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Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, holds a Cambodian child diagnosed with a heart condition on Nov. 12 during her visit to Phnom Penh. Some have compared the photo of her to that of Audrey Hepburn holding a Somali child. (Yonhap/social media screenshot)

Ruling and opposition party figures waged a war on social media and radio over controversial photos of first lady Kim Keon-hee, who accompanied her husband President Yoon Suk-yeol on his first tour of Southeast Asia.

Opposition figures are accusing Kim of “diplomatic discourtesy” and trying to imitate Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy after she skipped an official first spouses’ event to visit a child suffering from heart disease and posed arm-in-arm with US President Joe Biden.

The outfit Kim Keon-hee wore to a gathering of Korean expats in Cambodia on Nov. 11 has been compared to the dress worn by Jacqueline Kennedy in the portrait on the right. (social media screenshot)

The presidential office released photos from Kim’s visit to the home of a child suffering from heart disease in Phnom Penh on Monday. It was a private visit, unaccompanied by the press. The presidential office said Kim had initially planned to meet the boy at Hebron Medical Center in the capital city, but when the boy’s condition prevented this, she met him at his home instead.

The host nation of the ASEAN summit, Cambodia, had in fact arranged for the first spouses to visit the temple Angkor Wat that day. However, Kim did not take part in the official event.

When the presidential office released a photo of Kim holding the sick child, online observers claimed the first lady had imitated British actress Audrey Hepburn. They even shared side-by-side photos of Kim and Hepburn engaging in volunteer work, pointing to the similarities in photo composition and clothing.

This latest controversy ties back to previous discussions of the South Korean first lady’s attire. Early on, photos circulated online “proving” that Kim was trying to imitate the sartorial choices of late US first lady Jackie Kennedy, comparing the attire of the two women. Observers noted that a sleeveless dress Kim wore to a meeting of Korean nationals at a hotel in Phnom Penh on Friday resembled one Kennedy wore, too.

Kim Keon-hee’s attire for the launch of the Jeongjo the Great destroyer on July 28, 2022, has been compared to that worn by Jacqueline Kennedy shown on the left. (social media screenshot/Yonhap)

Kim was also criticized for her alleged “diplomatic discourtesy” by skipping the official first spouses’ event in favor of her own plans.

On Facebook, former lawmaker Kim Jin-ai wrote that it was “uncouth” for the first lady to decline to take part in an official event. “Why are they publicizing so many photos? The first lady is a public figure, not a celebrity,” she wrote.

Appearing on TBS Radio’s Kim Ou-joon's News Factory on Monday, Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Sang-ho said first spouses’ programs are “very important events,” explaining that the host nation can “promote itself” when participating nations transmit images of their leaders or first spouses visiting its major historical sites.

“For the host nation, it hurts a bit to skip such an event without a special reason,” he said.

Ruling party figures are actively refuting the criticism. Commentator Kim Yeon-joo, who formerly served as deputy spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), called the criticism “excessive.”

“People are even saying Kim posed like actress Audrey Hepburn, who engaged in volunteer work. Actresses Kim Hye-ja and Jung Ae-ri, who were promotional ambassadors of international relief organizations, appeared in several photos with the same composition, so reference them,” she remarked.

Kim Keon-hee poses for a photo with US President Joe Biden in Cambodia on Nov. 12. (Yonhap)

PPP lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon pointed to former first lady Kim Jung-sook’s solo visit to India in 2018. Accusing the opposition of behaving as if “everything Kim Jung-sook did was a virtue and everything Kim Keon-hee does is a disaster,” he said he very much preferred a “virtuous first lady” who engages in volunteer work alongside those in need like Audrey Hepburn, rather than a “tourist first lady,” presumably referring to the Kim Jung-sook, the wife of former President Moon Jae-in.

The two sides also bickered over a photo of Kim posing arm-in-arm with Biden at the ASEAN gala dinner on Friday.

“Why is she holding his arm?” asked Woo, the Democratic Party lawmaker. “I’m not sure if this is a method of public diplomacy. Anyway, it’s an official photo, so for her to link arms [with Biden] was a bit uncomfortable.”

Appearing on BBS Radio, lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun of the PPP retorted that there has “never been a first lady as beautiful before.”

“Why can’t people see this positive side?” he asked. “She’s acting as first lady, so I don’t know why people are arguing so much.”

Voices of concern have also emerged over how Kim’s photos — and Kim’s photos alone — have generated such a conspicuous controversy at a diplomatic event. During an interview on KBS on Monday, former intelligence chief Park Jie-won pointed out that Yoon was “hardly visible even at ASEAN” due to Kim’s activities, and that “with only Kim visible, it appears like she’s without a doubt at the very top of the power structure.”

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

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