From lawyer's wife to first lady: Kim Hye-kyung steps into spotlight
As Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea was elected president in the early hours of Wednesday, his spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, assumed the role of first lady -- a position that comes with both ceremonial weight and intense public scrutiny.
Throughout Lee's presidential campaign, from May 12 to Monday, Kim maintained a low profile, carrying out her acts of support privately and separately from her husband's campaign, contrary to People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo's wife, Seol Nan-young, who actively presented herself to his supporters.
Born in 1966, the 58-year-old first lady comes from a different family background compared to Lee, who spent his childhood years in poverty. Kim was born to a middle-class family and graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Department of Piano at Sookmyung Women's University.
While preparing to further advance her studies in music by going to a graduate school in Austria, Kim met Lee, then a practicing lawyer, through his sister-in-law in August 1990.
The couple got married six months later in March 1991 and had two sons, Lee Dong-ho and Lee Yoon-ho.
Kim wasn't always in favor of Lee's political career. According to local media reports, when he first told Kim that he wished to run for Seongnam mayor in 2006, Kim told Lee that he should "file for divorce before entering the race."
However, as Lee advanced his political career by being elected to serve as mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018 and governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021, Kim was able to create an image of herself as an active political partner of Lee's.
The first lady initially gained public attention by appearing on television programs with Lee and publishing a cookbook titled 'Let's Make Meals' in 2018, which helped shape her image as a dedicated housewife and a master of home cooking.
However, Kim has also faced controversies during Lee's political career.
On May 12, Kim was fined 1.5 million won ($1,100) in an appellate court ruling for purchasing meals using a Gyeonggi provincial government corporate card. The court ruled that the dinner Kim hosted using the corporate card in August 2021 benefited her husband's political campaign, when Lee declared his candidacy in the Democratic Party's primary for the 2022 presidential elections, violating the Public Official Election Act.
Kim has appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court. Even if the court upholds the verdict, the ruling is unlikely to impact her role as first lady, which is not an elected position.
Over the last three weeks, Kim refrained from making public speeches and focused on quiet, behind-the-scenes support for Lee.
Rather, the first lady's focus was on visiting religious organizations and marginalized communities, steering clear of political events.
According to a Democratic Party campaign official, Kim's visits were aimed at 'promoting national unity.'
'Just as the goal of politics is to bring people together, religion also plays a role in fostering reconciliation and harmony,' the official was quoted as saying in local media reports. Whether Kim will continue to steer away from political events is unclear.
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