Spouses of candidates jump into campaigns
Kim Hye-kyung, Seol Nan-young help shape public images for their husbands
The spouses of two leading presidential candidates have been more visible on the campaign trail in recent weeks compared to the spouses of previous candidates.
At the same time, they have avoided moves that could overshadow the candidates themselves, despite a political atmosphere fueling their rivalry.
On Wednesday, Kim Hye-kyung, the spouse of liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate Lee Jae-myung, visited the port in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, where the hull of the Sewol ferry remains docked. Kim paid respect to the victims of the ferry's sinking in 2014, which claimed the lives of 304 people on board, mostly high school students on a field trip.
Kim, however, did not schedule a meeting with the bereaved families of the ferry disaster.
She volunteered to serve food at a senior welfare center in the liberal stronghold of Gwangju, about 270 kilometers south of Seoul, the previous day. Then, she met with 10 teens who were orphaned as children and were preparing to graduate from foster care in the area.
She has also been attending various religious ceremonies in an apparent bid to seek support for her husband from religious voters.
Seol Nan-young, wife of the conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, has taken a relatively active role in the former labor minister's campaign.
Seol has taken similar steps as Kim Hye-kyung by visiting a senior welfare center and meeting with religious groups, but she has been more outspoken on the campaign trail compared to Kim.
While Kim Hye-kyung has avoided interviews during Lee's latest campaign, Seol has given interviews to local broadcasters and the right-wing YouTube channel Kosungkooktv.
In an interview with Channel A early this week, Seol said it would have been "completely unacceptable" if her husband Kim Moon-soo had used the Gyeonggi provincial government's credit card for personal expenses when he was Gyeonggi governor from 2006 to 2014. 'The internal policies on the usage of the government credit card are very strict and we used it in accordance with those rules,' she explained.
Seol's remarks were an apparent jab at Kim Hye-kyung, who was fined 1.5 million won ($1,070) in an appellate court ruling on Monday for purchasing personal groceries and meals using a government card. Lee Jae-myung also served as Gyeonggi governor from 2018 to 2021. The Suwon High Court said that a dinner hosted by Kim Hye-kyung using the government card in August 2021 benefited Lee's political career.
Political commentators have recently taken notice of the two potential first ladies' rising profiles on the campaign trail.
Rep. Kim Yong-tae, the People Power Party's interim chair, proposed on Tuesday a televised debate between the candidates' spouses ahead of the start of early in-person voting next week. Lee, however, turned down the proposal, with the Democratic Party calling Rep. Kim's proposal 'absurd and bizarre.' No televised debate between the spouses of presidential candidates has been held in South Korean history.
Kim Hye-kyung, 59, has a bachelor's degree in piano from Sookmyung Women's University and a master's in music therapy from Myongji University's Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Therapy. She and Lee married in 1991 after meeting on a blind date. They have two sons.
Seol, 71, has a bachelor's degree in Korean language and literature from Sacred Heart Women's University, which was merged with the Catholic University of Korea in 1995. She was a labor activist and union leader when she worked at Sejin Electronics in the late '70s. Seol and Kim Moon-soo both met as labor activists in the late '70s and married in 1981. They have one daughter.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
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