'Yoon's Office' Released via 'Kim Geon-hee Fan Club' Account
Conflicting Explanations from Presidential Office Spark Controversy
Opposition Expresses Concern Over Arbitrary Governance
President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee with their pet dog at the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Geonhee Sarang Facebook
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] A photo of President Yoon Seok-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee taken last weekend at the presidential office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, has sparked controversy after being released through Kim's fan club. Kim is known to have occasionally shared her photos with fan clubs, and her casual and unpretentious appearance in comfortable attire has been a topic of interest. However, the unofficial release of photos taken inside the presidential office, a secure area, has drawn criticism for a lack of awareness regarding the public domain.
On the 29th, the fan club 'Geonhee Love' on Kim's Facebook page posted a total of five photos, including pictures of President Yoon and the First Lady taken at the presidential office after early voting for the June 1 local elections on the 27th, and photos taken on the lawn in front of the presidential office building with their pet dogs on the 28th. These photos were 'exclusive' in that they were first posted on the fan club's Facebook account and were not provided by the presidential office or reported by the media.
The presidential office is a secure facility where unauthorized photography and recording are prohibited. During press coverage, only the president's official photographer and the press photographers accredited to the presidential office are allowed to take photos, and typically, photos are reviewed by the spokesperson's office before being released externally. This raised questions about who took the photos released through the fan club and how they were transmitted.
It was confirmed on the 30th that the photos were provided to the fan club by the First Lady herself. A presidential office official said, "The photos were taken with the First Lady's (smartphone) camera, and it seems that she also delivered the photos to the fan club." The release of internal photos of the presidential office through unofficial private channels without going through the official public relations line exposed a serious security loophole.
The fallout intensified as the presidential office gave inconsistent explanations about the background of the photo release. Initially, a presidential office official said the photos were "not taken by a presidential office staff member," but a few minutes later corrected this to say they were taken with the First Lady's mobile phone. Regarding the change in explanation, the official said, "We did not want to explicitly reveal the camera owner," and "We had a vague understanding of the situation but it was not clear, so we confirmed again and corrected it."
They added, "Many unexpected incidents that require management and attention, which were not handled in previous presidential offices, are happening, and we are sorting them out one by one," suggesting that this was an incident that occurred due to the relocation of the presidential office to Yongsan.
Photo of President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee taken at the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. / Geonhee Sarang Facebook
The First Lady Kim was also put under scrutiny in relation to this controversy. Criticism arose regarding her lack of awareness of the public domain. After President Yoon was elected, Kim stated in an interview with the media that she planned to "quietly devote herself to supporting her husband." She also expressed a preference for the term "president's spouse" over "first lady."
However, Kim has gradually revealed her unofficial activities to the media, and some photos have been shared through fan clubs as in this controversy. Since Kim rarely made official appearances during President Yoon's candidacy, the photos that were released attracted significant attention. Her unadorned outfits and daily life with their pet dogs received positive evaluations. However, this controversy has led to criticism questioning whether the security of the presidential office, which must be strictly maintained, is exempt for the president's spouse.
The Democratic Party of Korea launched an offensive, even raising suspicions of unofficial influence. Park Ji-hyun, co-chair of the joint countermeasures committee, wrote on Facebook, "If the First Lady comes and goes through the presidential office like a living room, many people worry that she might be controlling state affairs at will," and criticized, "The presidential office is a place where national secrets are handled and is never a private domain."
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