Yoon President-elect's Side: "Kim Keon-hee to Make First Official Appearance at Presidential Inauguration Ceremony"

First Lady Likely to Begin Her Journey

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, and his wife Kim Geon-hee are voting at an early voting station set up at the Seocho 1-dong Community Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, is expected to begin her official activities as the 'First Lady' around Yoon's inauguration ceremony on May 10. After refraining from official activities following the early voting in the presidential election, Kim is set to make her appearance with the start of the new administration.

Kim Eun-hye, the spokesperson for the president-elect, stated at a regular briefing held on the 30th at the transition office in Tongui-dong, Seoul, "The presidential inauguration ceremony is an official occasion to offer greetings," adding, "We are exploring the possibility that Mrs. Kim will make an appearance then." Park Joo-sun, chairman of the Presidential Inauguration Preparation Committee, also responded to a question about Kim's attendance at the inauguration on the 23rd by saying, "Isn't it natural for the president's spouse to attend?"

Questions about Kim's activities arose in relation to whether the spouse would join President-elect Yoon in his meal-serving volunteer work scheduled for that day. Kim has previously expressed her intention to approach the public through volunteer activities. Yoon is scheduled to visit a restaurant in Myeong-dong to serve meals. The spokesperson explained, "This is the third time following Namdaemun and Uljin that President-elect Yoon has promised to return and kept that promise," adding, "Today’s event is exactly about continuing this promise-keeping effort."

On the same day, President-elect Yoon will have a phone call with Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. The spokesperson said, "The Netherlands is a long-standing ally sharing fundamental values such as liberal democracy, market economy, and human rights with us," and added, "We expect close consultations between the two countries leading the semiconductor industry, often called the rice of future industries."

The spokesperson also commented on the phone call between President-elect Yoon and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the previous day, saying, "He conveyed his intention to have discussions as soon as possible after the end of the war to enable both countries to meet and derive practical cooperation measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.