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Time has come to keep first spouses in check

Published: 02 Oct. 2024, 19:44

The Reform Party on Wednesday proposed the National Assembly stipulate the legal status of the president’s spouse in the law. It could be a political offensive from the minor opposition. But it is also true that Korea’s current politics cannot take a step forward due to the deepening suspicions around first lady Kim Keon Hee. It is deplorable to see such developments today. And yet, many people would gladly agree to the need for the legislature to clearly define the legal status of the presidents’ spouses.

The prosecution on Wednesday decided not to indict the first lady on bribery charges even though she received a luxury handbag from a mysterious pastor after her husband was elected president in 2022. The prosecution based its decision on the absence of any clause on punishing a presidential spouse’s acceptance of expensive gifts from others — except for an article on broadly banning a spouse’s receipt of them. Despite such loopholes, political circles have been mostly indifferent to the issue.

Regardless of mounting suspicions on the first lady’s intervention in the ruling party’s nominations of candidates before the April 11 parliamentary elections, it is difficult to punish her because she is not a government official. In the past, most of the presidents’ spouses didn’t cross the line thanks to the internal checking system in the presidential office. As a result, there was little need to clearly define the first lady’s duties.

However, following former first lady Kim Jung-sook’s solo visit to India in 2018, the current first lady seems to have crossed a red line, as implied by her alleged involvement in the election process. That explains why the splinter opposition wants to specify the first lady’s obligations. We cannot afford any more confusion from our first ladies.

The United States made the First Ladies’ public role clear in Article 105 of the Federal Law. All official activities by them are conducted within the boundaries of the article. Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama also followed the guideline when their husbands were incumbent presidents. France is no exception. In 2017, the country made a declaration to ensure transparent activities of spouses of its heads of state. The declaration confined their public role to visiting foreign countries with the presidents, communicating with the public and hosting events at the Élysée Palace.

The Reform Party plans to define our first lady’s public role by law, secure transparency in the budget needed for the role, and strengthen their legal responsibility. First ladies should must not wield power just because they are the president’s spouse. The National Assembly has no reason to refuse the party’s proposal.