hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee attend Yoon’s inauguration ceremony held on the lawn of the National Assembly in Yeouido on May 10, 2022. (pool photo)

“The only ‘lineup’ in the presidential office is the president’s lineup.”

These were the remarks made on the afternoon of Oct. 14 by a senior official with the South Korean presidential office.

“Who ever heard of a first lady’s lineup? There is no kind of organization operating outside of formal duties,” they stressed at the time.

The comments were made to refute remarks two days earlier from People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon, who called for an “overhaul of presidential office personnel” and stressed the need to put an end to first lady Kim Keon-hee’s “lineup” of staff there.

In a press conference on Nov. 7, President Yoon Suk-yeol dismissed the claims, stating that the term “Kim Keon-hee lineup” sounds “very negative.”

But the explanations coming from in and around the presidential office have been at odds. One official with experience working there told the Hankyoreh, “The ‘first lady’s lineup’ would request that two copies each be printed out for major reports, for the first lady and themselves to read.”

“There was a lot of discontent among presidential office staffers over excessive involvement by the first lady’s connections,” they also said.

Another figure with experience working on Yoon’s election campaign said, “Early on in the administration, there were internal checks on the introduction of the first lady’s connections, but as far as I know they haven’t been able to break the first lady’s determination.”

“There were even cases of switching out positions that had originally been decided on, and [Kim] stood strong even when there were threats of replacements,” they added.

According to these witnesses, the “Kim Keon-hee lineup” took shape when certain figures who had been invited to Yoon’s presidential inauguration through their personal connections with Kim ended up going to work in the presidential office.

Kim Keon-hee’s inauguration guest list includes Lee Ki-jeong, Choung Yong-suk, and father of Hwang Jong-ho

Yoon and Han came together for a meeting on Oct. 21, when the feud between them was at its peak. The presidential office appeared to have acceded to Han’s repeated requests for a one-on-one meeting.

But the three demands that he stated with regard to the first lady — the removal of figures with connections to her, a suspension of her outside activities and a clarification of the allegations she faced, and procedures for the appointment of an independent inspector general — were effectively rebuffed.

The presidential office did not comment officially on the meeting, but analysts said it expressed its aims through other means.

Ahead of their meeting, a photograph was circulated showing Yoon and Han walking on the grounds of the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan neighborhood. In the picture, Lee Ki-jeong, the office’s protocol secretary, was shown walking alongside them.

Lee was one of the eight officials with connections to Kim whom Han asked to be replaced. Observers saw his inclusion in the photograph as sending the message that the office had no intention of ousting the first lady’s connections.

Lee was also invited to Yoon’s presidential inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly on May 10, 2022. A deputy bureau director for the YTN network at the time, he was selected three months later to serve as secretary to the president for public relations planning. In November 2023, he became protocol secretary, a position that saw him aiding the first couple more closely.

Lee had also worked as an organizing committee member for the 2021 Korea International Accessible Dance Festival together with Kim Yang-young, a Chungnam National University adjunct professor of dance whom Yoon described as an “old Busan friend of my wife’s,” and attorney Kang Shin-up, who previously chaired Kim Keon-hee’s fan club “Keon-hee Love.”

Also included on Kim’s guest list at the presidential inauguration was the father of Hwang Jong-ho, an officer in the senior civil society secretary’s office who reportedly referred to Yoon as “uncle” and Kim as “aunt” while working as a secretary during Yoon’s presidential run.

Hwang was also named as a key presidential office figure in a telephone conversation by former senior administrative officer Kim Dae-nam that was made public by Voice of Seoul. At the time, Kim said Hwang was the “most accurate” source when it came to inside information in the presidential office.

Also on the guest list was Choung Yong-suk, the former executive director of the presidential office’s secretariat for culture and sports, who reportedly organized the event to support Busan’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, which first lady Kim Keon-hee attended by herself. Critics referred to Kim’s solo attendance of the event as an “empress viewing.” Ahn Su-kyeong, the older sister of far-right YouTuber Ahn Jeong-kwon, who served as an administrator in the president’s PR office, was also on the guest list. 

Only a few resignations leave most of the lineup in place

Kang Ki-hoon is an administrator in the presidential office who sparked controversy for being apprehended for drunk driving with blood-alcohol levels high enough to have his license revoked but getting off with a two-month suspension at his job. Kang was invited to the inauguration ceremony as a guest of Yoon’s, and is considered one of the main members of the “Hannam neighborhood lineup.”

It was only after Kang Ki-hoon’s DUI made headlines that the presidential office put him on standby. However, Kang Ki-hoon did not announce his intention to resign until Chun Ha-ram of the Reform Party publicly called out the issue. 

“If you’re arrested for drunk driving, it’s only proper that you’re excluded from a position in the presidential office, but there have been reports from a whistleblower that someone referred to as ‘Administrator Kang’ is in charge of the presidential office’s internal affairs regarding the issue with the People Power Party bulletin as it relates to Han [Dong-hoon] and his family, so the presidential office can’t dismiss him [Kang] immediately,” Chun said. 

Kang Hoon, a former presidential secretary for government policy who is also known as a member of the Hannam lineup, resigned this past August. Shortly afterward, Kang put in a bid to become president of the Korea Tourism Organization. He made it to the final round, but withdrew his bid after public controversy surrounding officials with connections to Kim Keon-hee grew too intense. 

There are instances of people tendering their resignation only after public controversy gets too heated, but the majority of people known to have connections with Kim Keon-hee still retain their positions. The most prominent example is Kim Dong-jo, the secretary to the president for national planning, who worked for Covana Contents, a company that was operated by the first lady. 

“As a presidential adviser, I can offer a background explanation within the confines of basic national governance, but talking about ‘promoting the appointments of Park Young-sun and Yang Jung-chul’ and other things that completely diverge from the presidential office’s official stance is very problematic,” said an anonymous official within the ruling party. 

“Photographs showing the first lady, and not the president, acting as the protagonist of official events, have stirred controversy numerous times. Even if we bring these issues up internally, people known as the first lady’s lineup will not bend,” said an official within the presidential office. 

“Through their unbending loyalty to the first lady, these people are actually weakening the leadership of the president. They need to be held accountable.” 

Despite the decision to establish an office of the personal secretary to the first lady, within the presidential office and beyond, few people think Kim’s influence over government affairs will diminish. That’s because many people close to Kim hold key positions within the presidential office. A ruling party figure who was part of Yoon’s presidential campaign remarked: “It’s too late for the personal secretary to the first lady to serve as a solution. The current environment of the presidential office makes it structurally difficult to reduce the influence of the first lady.” 

The guest list for Yoon’s inauguration?

The guest list for Yoon’s inauguration ceremony stirred public controversy when it was discovered that it included family members of Kwon Oh-soo, former Deutsch Motors chairman, on the VIP list. The first lady has been accused of engaging in stock manipulation in coordination with Kwon. 

In July 2022, two months after Yoon’s inauguration ceremony, current affairs magazine Sisa Journal analyzed photographs of the ceremony posted by the Korean Culture and Information Service. The magazine reported its conclusion that Kwon Hyeok-min, son of Kwon Oh-soo, had attended the ceremony. This sparked further suspicions about people connected to the first lady attending the president’s inauguration ceremony. 

Amid public outrage over the guest list, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety testified during the 2022 National Assembly audit that the majority of the guest list had been deleted due to privacy laws regarding personal information. The guest list included 45,570 people in total, but most of these names have since been erased, they said. 

The guest list files obtained by the Hankyoreh list the parties who extended the invitations next to the guests’ names: “the president,” “the first lady,” “the People Power Party.” Over 600 guests were invited by the president, while over 700 guests were invited by the first lady. Some guests are not labeled with the party that invited them, so there is the possibility that additional invitations were made on the president’s behalf. Regardless, it’s notable that guests invited by the first lady outnumbered those invited by the president. 

“The number of guests invited by the first lady outnumbering those invited by the president seems to be unprecedented,“ said Yoon Tae-gon, the director of political analysis at political consulting firm The Moa.

“In the past, the president and his wife were viewed as one party, but figures connected to the first lady really stand out in this inauguration, which seems to be a unique situation,” the analyst added. 

“As Yoon has limited political experience, it makes sense that he received help from the first lady [who has extensive business experience] during his presidential campaign. Following his inauguration, however, the presidential office needs to be centered on the president. But that’s not happening. As far as the presidential office is concerned, issues connected to the first lady and her associates seem to be getting bigger under the neglect of the president,” Yoon Tae-gon said. 

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter; Ko Han-sol, staff reporter; Chai Yoon-tae, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]