Surprise Shopping Spree! Why South Korea’s New First Lady “is Highly Admired by the Public”?

The sudden visit of a celebrity caused a commotion in the downtown area. Women shook hands with her, and young people tried to take pictures of her with their smartphones. Yun Suk-yeol (Yun Sung-yeol, 61), the newly inaugurated president of South Korea, responds in a friendly manner. Next to him is a smiling First Lady Kim Gong-Hee (49).

On May 14, President Yun and his wife paid an unannounced visit to the Gwangjang Market in central Seoul. The visit was a surprise that even the presidential palace was unaware of.

The day before, Cheong-wa-dae (the South Korean presidential palace) had confirmed that President Yun had no plans for May 14. However, they were in a panic when an image of the president and his wife interacting with citizens at a market appeared on the Internet. The next day, he admitted that he had no prior knowledge of the surprise visit. It is also known that the couple had stopped by Debart’s near their home before visiting the market,” said a Korean newspaper reporter.

It was Mrs. Kim who proposed the surprise.

She saw that President Yun’s shoes were getting old and invited him to the department store, saying, ‘Let’s buy new ones. At the market, they took out tteokbokki (rice cake dish) and dumplings and ate them for dinner. Mrs. Kim has a straightforward personality and is not at all formal. Her popularity is soaring because of the public’s support for her folksy words and actions.

Her fan site has 90,000 members.

Last December, Kim even launched a fan site called “Gongsarang (Love). The number of members initially numbered about 30,000, but after Yun assumed the presidency, the number grew to more than 90,000.

Kim married Yun in March 2012. The marriage made headlines at the time because of the 12-year age difference, which is rare in Korea. Mrs. Kim also casually shares her frugal personal life on Instagram. Her favorite pair of white sandals (about 3,500 yen) on her Instagram became a topic of conversation and sold out at all stores, and we know that the skirt she was wearing when she visited the famous Saegunin Temple on May 3 was a skirt she purchased online (about 5,500 yen). writer)

Mrs. Kim graduated from the painting department of the prestigious Gyeonggi University and earned a doctorate in content design from Kookmin University. She is also the president of the art exhibition planning company Kobana Contents.

Her talent as a painter is also top-notch. I have held a solo exhibition in Ginza and had a conversation with architect Tadao Ando. She is the first lady of talent and color.

It is likely that Mrs. Kim, who is highly praised by the public, will lead the popularity of President Yun.