Home > Opinion > Columns

“Not much I can do,” said Kim Keon Hee

Published: 11 Aug. 2025, 00:03

Kang Ju-an

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

In September 2023, about 16 months into the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, first lady Kim Keon Hee attended an event on suicide prevention. The gathering brought together a young man who had once stood on the brink of suicide and activists dedicated to prevention efforts.

During her remarks, Kim made a striking comment: “More than half the people in this country wish I were dead.” She added that she had heard a religious figure pray for her plane to crash during an overseas trip, and that she was receiving psychiatric help. Then came an unexpected admission: “I thought when my husband became president, I could do everything. But there’s not much I can do.”

Forner first lady Kim Keon Hee, suspected of involvement in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, appears for questioning as a suspect at the office of the special counsel investigating her in Jongno District, Seoul, on the morning of Aug. 6. [KIM JONG-HO]

At the time, it was unclear what she had tried to accomplish and where she had met obstacles. This was two months before a video surfaced showing her accepting a luxury handbag from pastor Choi Jae-young, and before suspicions emerged over her involvement in inter-Korean policy or personnel decisions. Her remark seemed at odds with her stated intention to focus solely on supporting her husband’s work.

Looking back, that period marked a turning point. While the luxury bag video in November was damaging, events in July had already placed the couple under intense scrutiny. On July 11, Kim visited a luxury boutique in Lithuania during a European tour, accompanied by more than 10 security officers. The visit was reported in local media as Korea reeled from devastating floods. Then–Democratic Party leader Lee Jae Myung canceled political events to visit disaster zones. Around the same time, controversy erupted over alleged preferential treatment linked to the Seoul–Yangpyeong Expressway.

President Yoon extended his trip to visit Ukraine, even as flood deaths mounted and the luxury shopping report drew criticism. On July 17, the front page of the JoongAng Ilbo led with “Osong Underpass Tragedy,” referring to a deadly flood in which more than 10 people were killed after being trapped in a submerged underpass, followed by “President Yoon Declares Solidarity with Zelensky.” Upon returning, Yoon visited flood-hit Yecheon, North Gyeongsang, to encourage military and police responders. Two days later, the death of Corporal Chae occurred there, triggering another scandal. Two of the three ongoing special counsel investigations — one into Kim Keon Hee and another into the corporal’s death — now focus on this period.

The charges at issue in Kim’s detention hearing on Aug. 12 — alleged stock manipulation between 2010 and 2012, and interference in candidate nominations in 2022 — predate that turning point. Yet if, after saying “there’s not much I can do,” she had acted in line with public expectations, her fate might have been different.

Ahead of last April’s general election, luxury-related controversies prompted even members of the People Power Party to urge her to apologize. She refused, and a leaked text to then-interim party leader Han Dong-hoon rejecting the idea further soured public sentiment. Analysts say Kim’s controversies and the corporal’s death were key factors in the party’s crushing defeat. Yoon’s impeachment in the National Assembly passed by just four votes. Some still wonder what might have happened had the couple issued a sincere apology before the election. Her exchanges with former National Intelligence Service chief Cho Tae-yong via text on the eve of martial law proceedings also raised eyebrows.

The absence of a second presidential office for the first lady compounded her problems. One photo from her suicide prevention work — appearing to direct a police officer on Seoul’s Mapo Bridge — sparked backlash. With proper staff oversight, it might never have been released.

Then Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee, center, poses for a photo with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, left, and Lithuania’s Diana Nausediene, right, at the Ukrainian Center in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Juy 12, 2023, on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Kim and Zelenska met in Seoul in May. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Now facing a crisis, Kim can only avoid the worst by returning to the realm of common sense, starting with a genuine apology to the public. She has apologized three times, but none were accepted as sincere. Her campaign promise to devote herself to supporting her husband has rung hollow. Her apology to prosecutors investigating the handbag case was considered worse than silence. Her latest apology, made when appearing before special counsel, included the phrase “someone like me who is nothing,” which critics saw as an attempt to deflect responsibility.

There is little time left. If she could make even one apology that resonates with the public — and, perhaps, go so far as to express remorse for the declaration of martial law on behalf of her defiant husband in Seoul Detention Center — it might offer some measure of healing for the wounds left behind.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.