Using fame for good cause
Being famous is not always a good thing. In most cases, fame comes at the cost of people’s privacy.
I once had an opportunity to learn about the pressures celebrities endure just because they are known to the public, during a conversation with a plastic surgeon who is also an author of three books. According to him, the burden they carry is so heavy that some even choose to be forgotten by disappearing from the public eye. He talked about a famous actress he had encountered at a grocery store in a high-end mall located in Seoul’s posh southern district. He said the unnamed actress was “fully armed with protective gear,” such as a face mask and sunglasses, as she didn’t want others to recognize her. Despite her efforts, the surgeon said, he figured out who she was instantly because of her iconic forehead and other traits. The whole time, the surgeon said she appeared to be extremely wary of others. “Her worry is understandable,” the surgeon said, noting he has heard a lot from his celebrity patients about the pressures of living in the public eye.
In many cases, fame is the result of people’s years or decades of focused investments to make themselves known to others for money or other types of success. But for some, being famous is the byproduct of their relationship or bonds with someone else. Being a spouse of a head of state is one of the examples of how someone can become famous because of their powerful husband or wife.
Like it or not, the presidential couple is prone to the public’s interest. Like celebrities, they live in the public eye.
On the one hand, they must be responsible for their behavior as they are public and official figures. On the other, if they are not careful, they can become vulnerable to unreasonable expectations. People have high standards for public figures, particularly for heads of state. If people’s expectations are not met, they gossip, even if they don’t know that much about the people they are talking about.
I’m afraid this kind of pressure as a spouse of the president might be the case for first lady Kim Keon-hee. Becoming the first lady was not her direct choice. She met her husband, President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was then a prosecutor, and chose to marry him about a decade ago. Her husband chose to run in the presidential election, months after he quit the top job as the prosecutor general.
Since he won and took office, his wife, Kim, had to close her business, the art and exhibition startup Covana Contents, as continuing to run her business while her husband is president could lead to a conflict of interest. Becoming the first lady must have changed her life dramatically. In the past, she could make more choices in her life and have more control over her surroundings. But in her new life as first lady, it seems that she has lost some of that freedom, as her course of action is more determined by public opinion, rather than primarily by her own choices. This is what it takes to become a first lady.
There is another pressure Kim is facing: public opinion about her as the first lady is negative. In response, the presidential office said she would keep a low profile and be a full-time housewife during Yoon’s presidency, stressing that she won’t have any official title or projects other than being the first lady. She has been living up to this commitment so far.
Despite the absence of official meetings or appearances for her, there have been occasional media reports about her, and most of the coverage has been focused on her fashion and footwear choices. The black skirt she wore during her visit to Guinsa Temple in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, reportedly sold out after its relatively low price (54,000 won, or $44) became known, along with information that it was on sale on an online shopping mall. The sneakers she was wearing last weekend when she was with her husband and one of their dogs on the lawn of the presidential office also made reports, with some claiming that they appear to be Dior sneakers, which go for some 1.43 million won online.
What I see as a problem in such media coverage is that the first lady is being treated like a celebrity or a social media influencer. I do not think she has such wishes. The way she is reported on in media outlets is something that the presidential office should take seriously.
The media frenzy over the first lady’s fashion choices seems a reflection of people’s interest in her and their desire to know more about her life as the first lady. If this is true, I think the presidential office should think twice about its previous stance on her role as the first lady and try to find a way to “use” her influence for a good cause that could benefit the nation.
We’ve seen many celebrities who have made the most of their influence for a good cause, like humanitarian support for the poor, through their role as goodwill ambassadors for international charity organizations. One of the roles that I can think of for Kim is that she could be like a curator for traditional Korean art and play a role in making it known to the world, because art and exhibition planning are areas she is believed to know well, considering her past career as founder of an art and exhibition planning startup.