First Lady of South Korea: The Unpaid Position with a Wealth of Responsibilities

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, has not appeared publicly for over four months since accompanying her husband on his visit to the Netherlands on December 15th.

Her recent engagement with President Yoon has drawn attention as she has kept her activities private. Even her participation in the early voting for the April 10th general elections was only disclosed afterward.

President Yoon held a summit with Klaus Werner Iohannis, the President of Romania, at the Presidential Office in Yongsan on the 23rd.

On the same day, the Presidential Office announced that Kim Keon Hee had participated privately in an exchange program for spouses outside the Presidential Office. She did not attend the official welcome ceremony held before the meeting.

Since President Yoon took office, Kim Keon Hee has been actively involved as First Lady.

She has accompanied the President on nearly all his overseas visits and has participated in various domestic diplomatic and civilian events, always drawing attention with her unique fashion sense.

Some have speculated that the First Lady, like the President, carries a similar responsibility and should receive a salary.

However, the First Lady is merely a title for the spouse of the President and does not hold an official position.

The Constitution and laws of South Korea do not regulate the responsibilities, authorities, or salaries of the First Lady. The Law on the Protection of the President and Others stipulates that the President, the First Lady, and their lineal ascendant and descendant are designated as subjects of protection.

Previous First Ladies have received support for all their schedules and activities through a dedicated organization called the Second Secretariat in the Presidential Office (formerly the Blue House).

If the President dies after leaving office, the spouse can receive a monthly pension of 9.8 million won (about $8,200). The budget also covers security costs and the salaries of personal secretaries. If a deceased President is buried in the National Cemetery, the First Lady can also be interred there.

However, President Yoon promised to abolish the Second Secretariat, and Kim Keon Hee is currently working with only a team of 4-5 aides.

Although she works without a salary, she has considerable wealth.

According to the wealth declaration published by the Government Public Service Ethics Committee, as of the end of last year, President Yoon declared a total wealth of about 7.48 billion won (about $6.26 million), most of which is in the name of Kim Keon Hee.

The couple declared about 5.61 billion won (about $4.70 million) in deposits, of which Kim Keon Hee’s deposits amounted to about 4.98 billion won (about $4.18 million). She also owns land in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, worth 295.68 million won (about $0.25 million).

Before becoming the First Lady, there was controversy over her actual salary.

In December 2021, Cho Eung Cheon, a member of the Democratic Party, raised an issue about Kim Keon Hee’s health insurance premium at the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee.

Cho said, “Kim Keon Hee, a person with assets of 6 billion won (about $5.02 billion) between 2014 and 2017, only paid about 70,000 won (about $60) a month as a health insurance subscriber at work.” He pointed out that wealthy people create one-person corporations to become workplace subscribers and pay lower public charges.

In response, Lee Yang Su, a member of the People Power Party, refuted, “Kim Keon Hee established Cobana Contents and ran a deficit for over ten years. Therefore, the CEO Kim Keon Hee’s monthly salary was set at 2 million won (about $1.67 million), and she faithfully paid the health insurance premium imposed by the corporation according to that.”

The following year, the Presidential Office explained, “Kim Keon Hee reduced her CEO salary to 2 million won (about $1.67 million) to pay the employees’ salaries.”