Hwang Kyo-ik "Mrs. Kim Geon-hee, glasses cost 50,000 won but tissue is 70,000 won?"... Checking the actual prices

Actual Selling Price Around 2,000 KRW Per Roll
Lawyer Kang Shin-up: "It's My Own Money, So What Does It Matter?"

First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol. / Photo by Facebook capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik criticized the tissue paper appearing in a photo of First Lady Kim Geon-hee, saying, "She got caught pretending to be an ordinary citizen."

On the 19th, Hwang shared a photo along with a post from a netizen on his social media (SNS) that read, "The glasses cost around 50,000 won, but the tissue paper is about 70,000 won. Such an extreme ordinary citizen cosplay," commenting, "She got caught pretending to be an ordinary citizen."

The photo Hwang shared was posted on Facebook on the 16th by Kang Shin-up, a lawyer and president of Kim’s fan club 'Geonhee Sarang (Heesamo).' It shows Kim wearing glasses worth around 50,000 won, which she received as a gift from supporters at the Kobana Contents office. It is known that Kim personally gave this photo to lawyer Kang Shin-up.

Progressive netizens confirmed that the yellow roll of tissue paper captured in the office in Kim’s photo is a product released by Renova, a representative Portuguese toilet paper brand. They also captured and shared that the '6-roll 2-pack' product is being sold online for 77,600 won (about 6,500 won per roll).

Hwang wrote, "Rich people can live showing off their wealth. After all, this is a capitalist society." He added, "Of course, rich people might like cheap things. Personal tastes should be respected."

However, he urged, "But please don’t use the term 'pro-ordinary citizen' just because a rich person likes cheap things," arguing, "You don’t say someone is 'pro-rich' just because an ordinary person carries an expensive luxury bag." He added, "'Pro-ordinary citizen' as a term itself contains the class consciousness of the rich looking down on ordinary people."

However, when the product was searched on the same day sorted by 'lowest price,' it was confirmed to be sold for about 12,000 won for 6 rolls (excluding shipping fees).

Regarding the attack on First Lady Kim, lawyer Kang said, "It’s just childish. Kim never pretended to be an ordinary citizen; she simply expressed gratitude by taking a photo of a gift from a fan and sending it to the fan cafe."

He continued, "The prices vary starting from 12,000 won, so it’s not expensive," and rebutted, "It’s not 70,000 won, and even if it were a bit expensive, it’s 'my money, my purchase.' It’s not like she bought Hermes bathroom products with a corporate card like someone else."