"Mrs. Kim, Adequate Support" Revealed, Fan Club Leak... Cold Water on Yoon's Phase Shift

Repeated Controversy Over 'Geonhee Sarang' Presidential Office Information Leak
Opposition: "Hard to Understand Refusal of Second Secretariat and Assisting the First Lady"

First Lady Kim Keon-hee is greeting new police officers at the 310th graduation ceremony held on the 19th at the Central Police Academy in Chungju, Chungbuk. / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] As it has been confirmed that President Yoon Suk-yeol's confidential schedule was leaked through First Lady Kim Geon-hee's fan club 'Geonhee Sarang,' the 'First Lady risk' has once again come under scrutiny. After the 100-day mark of his inauguration, the presidential office seemed to gain momentum in shifting its phase through personnel reshuffles and public welfare activities, but an unexpected situation occurred.

On the morning of the 24th, a comment sharing President Yoon's schedule was posted on the 'Geonhee Sarang' Facebook account. The comment was posted by a netizen presumed to be a fan club member and contained information not disclosed to the media. The netizen announced, "Notice: President Yoon Suk-yeol will visit Daegu Seomun Market at 12 PM on the 26th," and requested attendance and promotion.

Upon learning of this, the presidential office was thrown into turmoil. Typically, the president's external schedules are kept confidential until the event starts or ends for security and protection reasons. However, the schedule of President Yoon posted on 'Geonhee Sarang' that day was even more detailed than the schedule previously notified to the press corps under a security embargo (non-reporting condition).

There was also an internal information leak incident in the presidential office last May. First Lady Kim visited the Yongsan Presidential Office for two consecutive days from May 27 to 28, and at that time, photos of President Yoon and the First Lady taken in the office and on the lawn in front of the building were first released through 'Geonhee Sarang,' causing controversy.

Regarding this recent leak of President Yoon's schedule, the presidential office hastily began investigating the circumstances. A presidential office official said at a briefing that afternoon, "We will investigate how this happened through the security office," and bowed apologetically. The official explained, "I understand that the Daegu city party office was preparing the event and gathering opinions from many people who wanted to participate, including party members, incumbent lawmakers, and aides. It seems the schedule was informally known."

However, as the leak controversy related to the First Lady's fan club flared up again, some within the ruling party argued that the fan club should be shut down. Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo criticized on Facebook, "I have been in politics for 26 years and have seen many presidents, but I have never heard of a First Lady fan club even once," adding, "Until recently, a strange person claimed to be the fan club president and gave all sorts of political advice, and now they even do the absurd act of pre-releasing the president's movements." He continued, "Such a cafe only alienates President Yoon from the people and makes the country more difficult," demanding, "Stop it and disband it now."

This leak controversy is also expected to reignite discussions about reviving the 'Second Secretariat' responsible for the First Lady. On the 23rd, Yoon Jae-soon, Secretary-General of the Presidential Secretariat, appeared before the National Assembly's Steering Committee and expressed a negative view on establishing the Second Secretariat, stating, "Sufficient support is being provided to the First Lady." However, just one day later, the leak incident occurred, making it impossible to avoid criticism of poor internal information management.

The Democratic Party of Korea insists that the presidential office should promptly establish the Second Secretariat. On the 24th, Representative Jin Sung-jun said in an interview with YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon,' "It would be more stable to create the Second Secretariat to accompany and assist First Lady Kim's unofficial activities, but (the presidential office and ruling party) stubbornly refuse and say they will perform the First Lady's support duties through loopholes. I don't understand why," adding, "The opposition party recommends helping the administration, but they are making excuses as if all 400 staff members of the presidential secretariat can support the First Lady, refusing to establish it, which is utterly incomprehensible."

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