It seems the nation is engulfed in a relentless maelstrom. Unseemly rumors and speculations surrounding Kim Keon-hee, the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol, continue to boil at a level in which even state governance is disrupted. Yet, the first lady shows no sign of curbing her behavior. Nor does Yoon exhibit anything but single-hearted dedication to protecting her.

Yoon’s devotion defies his signature motto of “common sense and fairness” as the nation’s top prosecutor. It has eroded his ability to lead, causing rifts with the ruling party, spoiling the already compromised integrity of the prosecution and driving his administration into a labyrinth of crises.

This state of chaos is unthinkable, given the hefty tasks on the administration’s table. The escalating tensions with North Korea, the worsening health care crisis arising from a hasty plan to increase the number of medical students, the decline of the middle class and economic polarization -- these are just some of the urgent issues facing the nation. However, the so-called “Kim Keon-hee risks” exacerbate political antagonism, hampering cooperation with the opposition and normal governance procedures.

The disorder began before Yoon’s election. A rich entrepreneur running an art exhibition agency, Kim was set to be an atypical first lady. But that was not the reason she caused a stir. It was her past. Rampant rumors had her working for a luxury nightclub liaising with celebrities, inflating her resume, committing academic plagiarism, and manipulating stock transactions. To hide her past, it was said, she changed her name as well as her face.

At the height of public consternation, she appeared before the press and apologized for padding her resume. She expressed regrets over “having tried to look better” and vowed to quietly stick to fulfilling a wife’s role. But Yoon freed her from her pledge: He abolished the Office of the First Lady, effectively allowing her to dictate her own terms.

Kim proceeded to revel in media attention, behaving often in ways suggesting she was the most important person in the presidential office. More irritating in the eyes of the public is her chameleon persona. She seems to emerge when Yoon’s approval ratings rise, then vanishes when the ratings droop.

When she does appear, it is in unexpected situations, like visiting a luxury brand shop in a foreign city along with more than a dozen security guards, instructing police officers on a Han River bridge during rush hour, or buying snacks in a convenience store after midnight. Her mysterious pattern, combined with her age-defying appearance, makes her presence feel unreal.

Behind the scenes, Kim has aroused discord and suspicion in the private and public sectors. During Yoon’s first year, she was widely suspected of having her hands on transactions related to relocating the presidential office and residence. Then came a spy cam footage displaying how vulnerable the nation’s first lady is to unofficial access and gifts. The video shows Kim accepting a Christian Dior pouch from a Korean-American pastor known as a pro-unification activist. Their hourlong meeting, which occurred at her private office outside the presidential residence in September 2022, four months after Yoon’s inauguration, suggests that it was not the first time that the pastor had brought her gifts.

In the video, Kim not only receives an expensive gift but also displays a flippant attitude and unmannered rhetoric, far from befitting a first lady. She also raises concerns about overstepping her role, uttering her desire to actively engage in South-North relations. “I will achieve unification within five years,” she declares to the pastor.

Kim rarely gives formal interviews, but during the presidential campaign, the same YouTube channel released seven-hour-long telephone conversations with her, secretly recorded by its reporter on 53 occasions. In the long chat, she reveals her political ambition, self-confidence, greed for power and revenge, and connection with shamans.

Most recently, another online channel released a recording of a telephone conversation by the same reporter with a former presidential staff member, who suggests Kim interfered with the ruling party’s candidate nominations ahead of the April general election. Another man, identified as a political consultant, confirms her attempt to influence the parliamentary election in a separate telephone conversation recording, leaked by yet another online channel.

The problem is that nobody can tell how many similar leaks of bewildering telephone conversations and social media messages will come in the days ahead. And yet, everybody knows that Yoon will continue to act with impunity to protect his wife, as he has thus far done by repeatedly vetoing special counsel bills to investigate her on multiple charges.

To redeem his leadership, Yoon should stop shielding his wife and bring her to justice in accordance with common sense and fairness. If he feels too heavily indebted to her to do so, as is widely rumored, he must find ways to balance loyalty and support as a husband and as the president, to his wife and to the constitution. The nation should not have to tolerate the impudence of a selfish, tone-deaf presidential couple any longer. They have created too much chaos already.

Lee Kyong-hee

Lee Kyong-hee is a former editor-in-chief of The Korea Herald. The views expressed here are the writer‘s own. -- Ed.