With South Korea’s elections just a week away, the wife of the main conservative party candidate, Seol Nan-young, has taken a prominent role in the campaign, actively working to undermine the image of the liberal frontrunner and his wife, and boost her husband’s chances.
Seol Nan-young, wife of People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo, has even taken her unusually direct criticisms to “Saturday Night Live Korea,” joking about scandals surrounding the wife of her husband’s chief rival and promoting a clean family image for her spouse.
Kim Moon-soo faces an uphill battle to distance himself from former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and removed from office following a short-lived martial law attempt in December.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party leads in the polls, but he and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, face criminal allegations. While these charges are unlikely to derail Lee’s candidacy, they provide ample ammunition for Seol to question his ethical standards.
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Seol has particularly focused on Kim Hye-kyung, who was fined for misusing a government credit card for restaurant dining when her husband was a provincial governor. Kim has denied the charges and appealed the ruling.
“I think this is an important election, whether you choose clean, honest, upright Kim Moon-soo or another candidate who is corrupt, and lies,” Seol said at a recent event, where she was introduced as someone who “doesn’t use corporate credit card.”
“Spouse risk” has become a significant election issue in Korea after a series of scandals, including the controversy surrounding Yoon’s wife accepting a Dior handbag, which is considered a factor in the PPP’s loss in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Kim Moon-soo has pledged to appoint a special inspector to investigate claims of wrongdoing by members of the president’s family, criticizing how first ladies have become associated with expensive items instead of public service.
Lee’s legal problems, amplified by the PPP, have led to calls for a “wives debate” on ethics, which Lee’s party has rejected.
During her “Saturday Night Live” appearance, Seol stated that Kim Hye-kyung’s misuse of a corporate credit card, which she equated to mishandling taxpayer money, was worse than Yoon’s spouse accepting the luxury bag.
Lee declined to comment on whether his wife would campaign like Seol, joking, “I don’t know much about what my wife is doing.”
Lee Jun-han, a political science professor at Incheon National University, suggests that the attacks on Kim Hye-kyung could hinder Lee’s rise in the polls, highlighting the significant influence of spouses in Korean politics, often in a negative way.
“Kim’s wife is trying to be a dark horse and strategically showing she is different from Lee’s wife,” he said.
