With Over 90,000 Fans, South Korean President Wife Crying Over a Movie About Politics

‘I cried so much when I saw the movie “The Defender,” which was modeled after the former president.’

She added: “Top positions can be valued or whipped. You have to be patient and persevere.”

This is a conversation between Kim Keon-hee (49), wife of the new South Korean president Yun Seong-yeol (61), and the wife of the late former president Roh Moo-hyun. Kim visited the cemetery where Roh is buried in the southern city of Gimhae on June 13. The conversation with the former first lady lasted an hour and a half. There was a surprising circumstance behind Kim’s disclosure of the episode in which she wept at a movie about a politician who suffered criticism – a story that has been a source of controversy for many years.

Kim’s popularity has skyrocketed. Last December, a fan site “Keon-hee Sarang (I love you, Keon-hee)” was launched. The number of members was initially around 30,000, but when Yun assumed the presidency in May of this year, the number quickly surpassed 90,000.

Even after becoming First Lady, Yun’s popular behavior, such as taking out meals at a downtown market, has won his support. She also casually discloses her personal life on Instagram. Her favorite white sandals (about 3,500 yen) on Instagram became a topic of conversation and sold out at various stores.

A search for “Kim Keon-hee” on “Neighbor Shopping,” a major Korean online shopping site, yielded more than 2,500 hits. Even if you narrow down the search to ‘Kim Keon-heei skirt,’ the popularity of the item is such that about 1,500 hits are found.

With her husband in the Oval Office

While her influence is growing, so is her criticism. At a press conference last December, Kim said, “Even if my husband becomes president, I will act according to the role of a wife.” However, an image uploaded to “Keon-sarang” on May 29 drew criticism.

It showed the couple playing with their dog in the Oval Office. Park Ji-hyun, a member of the opposition “Co-operative Democratic Party,” called it a mixture of public and private life, and posted the following on his Facebook page. The Oval Office has been turned into a family living room. The Oval Office is a place where important state business is conducted and is never a private domain.

Kim’s daily participation in public events has also been criticized as a violation of her “wife’s role.” The events in which Kim acted with President Yun include: the Presidential Inauguration Dinner held at the Shilla Hotel Guest House on May 10; the Hyeonchung Day Memorial Ceremony held on June 6 to commemorate fallen soldiers and martyrs; and a visit to Chungbuk Hospital on the same day.

Although not an official event, on June 12, my husband and I watched the movie “Baby Broker” together. After the viewing, there was a commotion. Official photos of the viewing were distributed to the media through the president’s office, but many undisclosed images were uploaded to “Keon-Sarang. The ruling party, “People’s Power,” has also criticized this, saying, “It would be good if official photos were circulated first, but private images circulating in real time is problematic from the standpoint of security.

It has been discovered that an acquaintance of Kim’s accompanied President Yun to the presidential office when he went to work, raising the question, ‘Is Mrs. Kim a shadowy power? Opposition lawmaker Lee Won-wook sarcastically remarked on his Facebook page. ‘Mr. Yun seems more loyal to his role as Mrs. Yun’s husband than to the execution of his presidency,'” a writer living in South Korea.

Kim said she was moved to tears by the movie, in which a politician endures criticism. Perhaps the reason she revealed the past episode was because she wanted the audience to understand her own painful situation of being subjected to criticism.