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President Yoon Suk-yeol takes questions from the press while commuting to the presidential office in Yongsan on June 15. (presidential office pool photo)

“This is my first time as president, so I’m not sure how to distinguish between official and unofficial engagements…”

President Yoon Suk-yeol is drawing criticism after he made the above comment concerning the controversy surrounding first lady Kim Keon-hee for paying a visit to Bongha Village while accompanied by a personal acquaintance.

Critics say Yoon is avoiding accountability by citing his inexperience as president despite having already waded through multiple previous controversies in relation to Kim Keon-hee, in addition to treating the conduct of the first lady and her acquaintance as equivalent to that of private citizens.

While answering questions from reporters during his commute on Wednesday, Yoon said concerning the acquaintance who accompanied Kim during her visit to Bongha Village: “She’s an old friend of my wife’s from Busan, whom I also know well. It seems like my wife brought a lot of gifts like bread, [things Kwon Yang-sook] would like, during [her] visit to [Kwon], and [the acquaintance] seems to have introduced [my wife] to good stores in Busan.”

“Are not all citizens free to visit Bongha Village?” Yoon added.

While visiting Bongha Village on Monday to pay her respects at former President Roh Moo-hyun’s grave, Kim Keon-hee was accompanied by a personal acquaintance surnamed Kim who had no relation to the engagement. The acquaintance was an executive director at Covana Contents, where Kim Keon-hee previously served as president, and was also a professor at Kookmin University’s extension school, where Kim Keon-hee previously worked as an adjunct professor.

Yoon disregarded the heart of the controversy with his comment, asking what the problem was when Bongha Village was open to any citizen while ignoring the fact that Kim received exceptional treatment from the Presidential Security Service and other staff in the form of protocol and an escort service along with Kim Keon-hee. Even more, Yoon blamed his inexperience as president as the reason Kim Keon-hee had stirred yet another controversy.

Yoon said, “[Kim Keon-hee’s] Bongha Village [visit] was reported on despite it being a private engagement, and since it’s my first time as president, I’m not sure how to distinguish between unofficial engagements [. . .] [My wife] doesn’t have any official assistants or secretaries, so she can’t go places by herself either. Please, show me the way.”

He added, “I only just started [as president], so I don’t know how to go about organizing. I will start thinking about it by listening to public opinion,” twice citing his inexperience as president to excuse the controversy surrounding the first lady.

But the liability posed by Kim Keon-hee was a concern raised even before she became first lady, when Yoon pledged to abolish the post of private secretary to the first lady during his presidential campaign. Moreover, Kim Keon-hee has been mired in allegations of resume-padding both before and after Yoon’s election and has been the subject of scandal due to her fan club, which has been releasing unofficial photos of the first lady.

Close associates of the president, as well as figures in his party, have continuously asked Yoon to make an effort to manage the liability posed by his wife. This is why it appears careless of Yoon to ask the public and the media to “show [him] the way” when he was elected president three months ago and inaugurated over a month ago.

Plus, Yoon’s explanation that the media is to blame for reporting on Kim Keon-hee’s private engagement is unconvincing, considering that the first lady is a public figure in the spotlight, and the fact that the media was informed of her schedule in advance.

On Wednesday, it was also revealed that two individuals who previously worked for Covana Contents were currently employed in the presidential office. The office refused to disclose how they were employed or which division they were working for.

Experts say Yoon’s attitude is nothing short of problematic. Myongji University political science professor Kim Hyung-joon said, “Yoon keeps making unfiltered statements. Expressing his personal viewpoints without a filter is what’s causing heated debates.” He added, “He may think he’s being down to earth, but it’s having a negative effect on public opinion.”

Eom Gyeong-yeong, director of the Zeitgeist Institute, said, “[Yoon] needs to revive the office of the first lady or expand the office of private secretary to the president to secure relevant manpower.”

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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