bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

The Korea Times

By Lee Hae-rin
South Korea’s Kim Keon-hee is an unusual first lady in many ways. While her predecessors kept low profiles while their husbands were leading the country, Kim seems to care little about deflecting the public’s attention.
On occasion, she stands out to the point of overshadowing her husband, as seen in her recent trip to Madrid, Spain. The first lady, who was accompanying her husband, Yoon Suk-yeol, to the 2022 Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) summit, was noted for what she wore.
Some fashion experts have lauded her for her wardrobe choices.

Kang Jin-joo, the head of the Personal Image Clinic, who served as former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak’s image consultant from 2007 to 2008, says that the country has never seen such a first lady before.
“Until now, the country’s first ladies had featured the beauty of humbleness and moderation in their attire,” Kang says. “Kim, on the other hand, portrays the image of a classy, sophisticated, independent and professional woman.”

Cho Mi-kyung, the CEO of domestic image consulting firm CMK Image Korea, agrees.
“Kim portrays both first lady dignity and individual personality in her look,” Cho says, adding that Kim has received much attention not only from the public and media but also within the image-making sector and fashion industry.
The glitz and glamour of Kim’s fashion is probably behind the public’s mixed reactions to her. People either love or hate her, and there seems to be almost no in between.

According to a June 29 survey of 1,000 South Koreans by research organisation Data Research, a little over half of the respondents said “Kim is doing a good job as a first lady”, while just under half said Kim’s role should be “scaled down”.
In a Next Research survey in June, one month after Yoon’s inauguration, six out of 10 participants said Kim should keep a low profile. Of the 1,010 participants, 64.5 per cent of the respondents who identify as politically centrist and 56.6 per cent identifying as conservative expressed negative opinions on Kim.
Kim is a rare first lady in that she has her own fan club. The online community dedicated to her on Korea’s largest web portal, Naver, “Official fan site of Kim Keon-hee”, was founded last December and boasts over 93,000 members. Her Facebook fan page “Keon-hee sarang”, which in Korean means “Love for Keon-hee”, uploads unreleased photos of her daily life in and outside the presidential office.

None of her predecessors had drawn as much attention from the public as Kim has from the start of her husband’s presidential term. The wives of Korean presidents have historically been virtually invisible and media coverage was rare.
Cho Jin-man, a professor of political science at Duksung Women’s University in Seoul, says Kim is not comparable to her predecessors because she is unique in many ways, from style to background to character.
“Most of the past first ladies had been quiet without getting much attention from the public when their husbands were in the presidency. The only exception would be first lady Lee Hee-ho, the spouse of late president Kim Dae-jung.
“The late Lee cast a ‘New Woman’ image because of her past involvement in the women’s rights movement and she was more like her husband’s companion or lifetime friend rather than a spouse,” he says.
“Compared to her predecessors, first lady Kim is very different. She has lived a life which is very different from other first ladies. She had her own business and has been very active, so I think she won’t be content with a life lived in the shadow of her husband.”

Cho encouraged the presidential office and first lady Kim to think seriously about finding her role as the spouse of the current president. “I think she should save her energy and search for a role that is fit for her and consult the presidential office about a possible role, rather than just doing as she pleases,” he says, noting that her high profile is a double-edged sword for her husband during his presidency.
In the 1970s, late former first lady Yuk Young-soo (1950-1974), the mother of former president Park Geun-hye and wife of the late former dictator Park Chung-hee, was seen as an archetype of a first lady and of Korean womanhood.
Yuk was a supportive wife and a good mother. Often seen wearing a hanbok, Yuk had a relatively simple lifestyle and ran charities to help the poor and vulnerable while her husband ruled the country for nearly two decades after a military coup in 1961.

Since then, Korea’s first ladies have not strayed far from Yuk’s example, remaining as full-time housewives when their husbands were elected and keeping a low profile.
“Times have changed a lot, but Koreans are conservative regarding first ladies and they still prefer a first lady who is invisible and a silent helper of her husband,” says Cho.
Read the full story at The Korea Times


Maggie Hewitt’s style picks: the founder of Maggie Marilyn loves her Cartier Tank, The Ordinary skincare and Westman Atelier make-up, and Jane Birkin and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy

Meet Matteo Milleri, who was married to Leonardo DiCaprio’s girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti: the DJ known as Anyma creates NFTs and is dating one of Elon Musk’s baby mamas … but which one?

Cartier blends high jewellery, ancient Chinese artworks and AI in its ‘Power of Magic’ exhibition at Shanghai Museum East – with actresses Mélanie Laurent and Gong Li in attendance

Style Edit: Why Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of women’s collections, chose Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona for the maison’s cruise 2025 show

Fashion

The fashion of South Korea’s first lady Kim Keon-hee makes her unusual – she’s unlike any of the women that came before her

Some of the outfits worn by South Korea’s first lady, Kim Keon-hee, during a visit to Spain, where her husband attended the 2022 Nato summit. Unlike her predecessors who have kept low profiles, Kim is unafraid to embrace the spotlight.

Kim enters a gala dinner at the Royal Palace of Madrid in the Spanish capital on June 28. 

Kim visits a Korean grocery store at Maravillas Market in Madrid on June 30. 

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee at the Seoul military airport in Seongnam, South Korea, before departing for Spain, where Yoon attended the 2022 Nato summit. Photo: AP

Yoon and Kim during a meeting with a group of South Korean nationals living in Spain. Photo: EPA

Yoon and Kim leaving Madrid’s Barajas Airport for South Korea. Photo: DPA

Queen Letizia (second left) of Spain, Spanish first lady Begona Gomez (left), US first lady Jill Biden (second right) and Kim during a visit to the Royal Site of San Ildefonso in Segovia, Spain on June 29. Photo: EPA

What Hong Kong’s luxury scene was like in the late 90s from those who lived it, and how it has evolved over the last 25 years

Bill Clinton with Chanel’s Claudia Shaw (left) and other guests at the opening of the Cipriani Italian restaurant in the Old Bank of China Building in Central, Hong Kong, in 2003. Photo: SCMP

Revellers attend a handover party dressed in clothing depicting British and Chinese national colours at the Regent hotel in Kowloon on July 1, 1997. Photo: AFP

Shaw with Shanghai Tang founder David Tang at an event at the China Club in 2004.

Mimi Tang in 2021. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Barney Cheng with two models, one of them the US supermodel Niki Taylor (left), after his first show in 1997.

Lavender Patten (right) wears the modified cheongsam stand collar jacket designed by Barney Cheng with (from left) Prince Charles, her husband Chris Patten and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Photo: AFP

An employee at Macau’s Morpheus hotel wears a uniform designed by Cheng. 

Barney Cheng with the design of the cheongsam made for Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam which she wore on the 20th Anniversary Handover of Hong Kong on July 1, 2017. Photo: Dickson Lee

Tang at an event for Gucci’s autumn-winter 2004-05 fashion collection. Photo: SCMP

Shaw (centre) at a Chanel party at Pier 3 in Central, in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Bonnae Gokson with hair stylist Kim Robinson.

Gokson in the ’90s.

From Zendaya to Chloe Grace Moretz, women in suits and ties are everywhere – as men change out of theirs

While men seem to be ditching suits and ties, a lot of stylish women are wearing them these days, including actresses Zendaya (left) and Chloe Grace Moretz. Photo: Getty Images

A look from Louis Vuitton’s autumn/winter 2022 collection.

A look from Dior’s autumn 2022 show.

Jessica Chastain attends “The Forgiven” premiere in New York. Photo: AFP

Diane Keaton, suited and booted in Annie Hall (1977).

A Frankie Shop waistcoat, available at Browns Fashion.

A Jacquemus blazer, available at Net-a-Porter.

Prince William’s style at 40: how his fashion choices have changed under Kate’s influence and the brands he now loves

22 March 2022, Jamaica, Kingston: Prince William (L), the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, visit the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum, the former home of musician Bob Marley in Kingston, Jamaica, on day four of their tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. Photo: Chris Jackson/PA Wire/dpa

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, visit the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum in Kingston, Jamaica, on their tour of the Caribbean, on March 22, 2022. Photo: Chris Jackson/PA Wire/DPA

William and Kate arrive at the British premiere of Top Gun: Maverick at the Royal Film Performance event in Leicester Square, London, on May 19, 2022. Photo; Reuters

William and Kate at the Earthshot Prize 2021 awards in London on October 17, 2021. Photo: WireImage

William with brother Prince Harry at the wedding of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews. Photo: Getty Images

William and Kate depart Belize as part of their tour of the Caribbean, on March 22, 2022. Photo: WireImage

William and Kate meet Belize’s Prime Minister Johnny Briceno (not pictured) in Belize City on March 19, 2022. Photo: Reuters

William’s velvet shoes that he wore to see Top Gun: Maverick. Photo: AFP

Platinum jubilee: Queen Elizabeth’s style, from a coat she ‘loathed’ as a child to her wedding dress of Chinese silk to today’s bright colours and pastels

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth’s signature clear, bird-cage umbrellas are made by Fulton Umbrellas. As the Platinum Jubilee draws closer, we take a look at Elizabeth’s style through the decades. Photo: AP

From left, Princess Margaret feeding a biscuit to a dog held by Princess Elizabeth in 1936, Elizabeth and Margaret in 1938, and the pair in 1939. Photo: AP

Elizabeth, right, with her sister Margaret before giving her first radio broadcast on October 13, 1940. Photo: AP

Elizabeth, centre, with her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and Margaret in 1942 in Windsor. Photo: AP

Elizabeth talks to an ambulance officer at a stand-down parade at Buckingham Palace in 1945. Photo: AP

Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten posing for a photo before their wedding in 1947. Photo: AP

Elizabeth leaves Westminster Abbey in London, with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, after their wedding ceremony on November 20, 1947. Photo: AP

Elizabeth in a silver gown with a diamond tiara and pearl necklace in 1949. Photo: AP

Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten in London in 1947. Photo: AP

Elizabeth with Prince Philip at the Empire Theatre in London for the premiere of the film Dunkirk on March 20, 1958. Photo: AP

Elizabeth crowns her son Charles, Prince of Wales during his investiture ceremony on July 1, 1969 at Caernarfon Castle in Wales. Photo: AP

Elizabeth wore a tuxedo-like Hartnell gown at the Empire Theatre on October 27, 1952. Photo: AP

Elizabeth wears a paisley print dress while receiving the President of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis, and his wife, Paola Cassis, in Windsor on April 28, 2022. Photo: AP

From left, Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey in 2021, at Paddington station in London in 2022, and outside Buckingham Palace in 2021. Photo: AP

Elizabeth during a visit to RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales on April 1, 2011. Photo: AP

The fashion secret of Camilla, Britain’s Queen Consort – she wears everything with pure confidence

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall attends a dinner and reception hosted by President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou on March 24, 2021 in Athens, Greece. Photo: WireImage

The then Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, attend the ceremonial opening of the Welsh parliament, in Cardiff, Wales, last year. The Queen Consort stands out for her personal style. Photo: AFP

Charles and Camilla on their wedding day, April 9, 2005. Photo: Reuters

Camilla at the opening of the sixth session of the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, on October 14, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. Photo: Getty Images

From left, Camilla, Charles, then US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump ahead of a dinner at Winfield House in London on June 4, 2019. Photo: AFP

Camilla at a dinner and reception hosted by Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the President of Greece, on March 24, 2021, in Athens, Greece. Photo: WireImage

Camilla at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018. Photo: EPA

Camilla at the Christmas Day morning church service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire on December 25, 2021. Photo: AFP

Camilla on April 29, 2011, the day Prince William and Kate Middleton were married. Photo: AFP

Lifestyle

Fashion & Beauty


Kim Keon-hee, wife to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, is unlike the first ladies who came before her; she’s unafraid to stand out when it comes to fashion
The glitz and glamour of Kim’s outfits have made her popular to the point of having her own fan club online – but the attention she commands has drawn criticism



South Korea’s fashionable first lady Kim Keon-hee isn’t like the other women that have come before her – where they kept low profiles while their husbands ran the country, Kim embraces the spotlight.


Fashion diplomacy

South Korea

Korea Times