South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon Hee will resume her official duties on May 16, in line with the visit of the Cambodian Prime Minister to Korea. This comes 153 days after allegations over her acceptance of a luxury bag surfaced during a state visit to the Netherlands on December 2023.
The Presidential Office announced that morning that the First Lady would attend the official Korea-Cambodia luncheon. President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to hold a summit with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, followed by an official luncheon.
Initially, the Presidential Office did not mention whether the First Lady would attend the summit, but later that morning, they confirmed her attendance.
This will be the First Lady’s first public appearance in 153 days since December 15, 2023. Following allegations of accepting a luxury bag, the First Lady refrained from appearing in public after her state visit to the Netherlands.
In February, she sent a condolence letter and a fruit basket to the family of the late police officer Yoo Jae Guk on the fourth anniversary of his death and reportedly attended a luncheon with the CEO of Netflix at the Presidential Residence. However, there were no pictures of the First Lady at the luncheon released by the Presidential Office.
During the general election on April 10 this year, the First Lady voted separately from Yoon in a private capacity, and although there were spouse-related schedules during the visit of the Romanian presidential couple last month, they were not made public due to mutual agreement between the two countries.
The Presidential Office had been considering when to resume the First Lady’s official duties, especially after Yoon officially apologized for the allegations surrounding her during a press conference on his second anniversary in office.
There was anticipation for the First Lady to attend the Buddha’s Birthday ceremony at Jogye Temple, which President Yoon attended yesterday, but she ultimately did not attend.
It was reported that the Presidential Office considered her attendance at the event, taking into account her contribution to the repatriation of Buddhist artifacts from the United States to Korea.
The Presidential Office also considered having the First Lady attend the Children’s Day event held at the Blue House on May 5th but eventually decided that President Yoon would attend alone.
However, as the need for the First Lady to fulfill her role in diplomacy has been growing since April, it is interpreted that she decided to make an official appearance on the occasion of the Korea-Cambodia summit.
There are a series of major diplomatic events to be held in Korea, such as the Korea-China-Japan summit at the end of May and the Korea-Africa summit in June, as well as a series of overseas summits, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), scheduled for the second half of this year.