First lady caught in controversy over social media verification mark
First lady Kim Keon Hee attends the opening ceremony of the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, Aug. 2. Courtesy of the presidential office
By Lee Hae-rin
First lady Kim Keon Hee is once again mired in a controversy due to the official verification of her social media account.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, Monday, that the ministry had asked X, formerly Twitter, to apply the gray checkmark on Kim's account following a request from the presidential office.
The ministry “followed related procedures upon the judgment that the Twitter accounts of the president and first lady are exposed to many hacking risks and need official verification marks,” a ministry official said.
Kim's account (
), which says, “President Yoon Suk Yeol's wife Kim Keon Hee” in Korean and “The First Lady of The Republic of Korea” in English on its profile, remains protected, following one unverifiable account and has zero followers as of Monday.
First lady Kim Keon Hee's X account, formerly Twitter / Screenshot from X
According to a report by The Korea Times' sister paper Hankook Ilbo, Sunday, the presidential office requested the ministry's cooperation in obtaining the gray checkmark for Kim's account in May.
X initially declined the request, citing Kim's civilian status. However, the ministry made multiple requests to apply the gray checkmark on Kim's account, mentioning the case of American first lady Jill Biden (
) who has over 4.3 million followers and has a gray checkmark.
X applies three color-coded visual identifications on verified account profiles. The blue checkmark is given to a user on a monthly paid subscription to X Premium and gold indicates an official organization or business account, while the gray checkmark represents a government or multilateral organization or official.
Such government individuals eligible for the gray checkmark include “heads of state, deputy heads of state, national-level cabinet members or equivalent, the main official spokesperson for the executive branch or equivalent, and individual members of all chambers of the supranational or national congress, parliament or equivalent,” according to X's guidelines. French First lady Brigitte Macron runs her X account without such a verification.
The issue immediately triggered debate from the opposition parties.
“It is hard to understand why the foreign ministry needs to interfere in creating a Twitter account for not even the president, but the president's wife,” Ann Gwi-ryeong, a spokesperson of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said, Sunday.
“Before coveting the gray checkmark, Kim should look back on many allegations and controversies surrounding her, including the forgery of her academic and professional background, thesis plagiarism and stock manipulation.”
In response to Ann's statement, the ruling conservative People Power Party's (PPP) Lee Min-chan refuted this, saying that the government's help regarding the first lady's external activities is rational and argued that, “Kim's activities embracing the socially vulnerable … could be considered a diplomatic activity that elevates the country's status,” if they become more widely known via social media.
As a presidential candidate, Yoon spoke against providing special legal treatment for first ladies and abolished the office established in 1972 that had supported presidential spouses after stepping into his office last year.