The documentary film "First Lady," which delves into the controversies surrounding Kim Keon Hee, the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol, is drawing sold-out crowds nationwide following its release on Thursday.
According to the Korean Film Council, the film attracted 4,822 moviegoers on Thursday, ranking eighth at the box office. The film's cumulative audience count stands at 7,048, as of Friday.
"First Lady," by director Ae-mong, is currently running at major theater chains including CGV, Megabox and Lotte Cinema, as well as independent theaters like Dongducheon Munhwa Theater in Gyeonggi Province and Andong Jungang Art Cinema in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
CGV Sinchon Artreon in Sinchon, Seoul, reported all 132 seats sold out Thursday, with near-capacity sales reported at other theaters as well.
A teaser clip from "First Lady" uploaded Thursday on the YouTube channel “VoiceOfSeoul” had also garnered over 900,000 views within 22 hours and accumulated more than 2,800 comments as of Friday afternoon.
The film examines multiple controversies surrounding Kim, including her alleged acceptance of a luxury handbag as a gift, involvement in a route change on the Yangpyeong Expressway and meddling in state affairs.
The documentary features appearances and commentary by figures such as Lee Myung-soo, the reporter who revealed a recording of a conversation with Kim; Rev. Choi Jae-young, who allegedly gave her the luxury handbag; and Ahn Hae-wook, a former chairman of the Korea Elementary School Taekwondo Federation who testified regarding a document referred to as “Yoon’s X-file.” The document spread on the internet in June 2021 and claimed that Kim had worked as a hostess, nicknamed Julie, at a hotel nightclub in southern Seoul, before marrying Yoon in 2012.
The film has been promoted as a "problematic documentary on the issues surrounding the ‘Yongsan VIP,’" a term indirectly referencing President Yoon Suk Yeol. The trailer includes provocative dialogue such as, "Have you heard of 'VIP 2' (referring to the first lady)?" and "I don’t think Yoon Suk Yeol is really the president. That fool is just a puppet." The trailer concludes with an excerpt from Kim’s recorded conversations, in which she says, "If I gain power, they won’t go unscathed," followed by Kim's laughter.