South Korea’s first lady problem: plagiarism, privilege and Kim Keon-hee
Her annulled master’s degree is just the latest scandal haunting former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife
When a top private university revoked the master’s degree of South Korea’s former first lady for plagiarism this week, it was more than just another routine academic scandal – it was a signal that the days of unchecked privilege for political spouses may be over.
On Monday, Sookmyung Women’s University announced it had annulled the art education degree awarded to Kim Keon-hee in 1999 – submitted under her previous name, Kim Myung-shin – after its research ethics panel found the thesis was so seriously compromised that cancellation was warranted.
For many critics, the decision was long overdue. Yet it also marks a watershed moment: a sign of rising public demand for transparency and consequences not just for elected officials, but for those who orbit them. The fallout, political analysts say, could redefine the expectations placed on future first ladies in a country where unofficial power has long operated outside formal scrutiny.
“It’s rare in modern political history for a leader’s spouse to remain so prominently and persistently at the centre of controversy,” Choi Jin, head of the Institute for Presidential Leadership, told This Week in Asia. “From now on, the public will be watching not just elected officials, but their families too.”
Kim, the embattled wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol, has faced mounting legal and political pressure in recent months. The university’s move comes after years of accusations that it had hesitated to act, despite public uproar and findings that nearly half of her thesis had been plagiarised.
“This decision was made to uphold research ethics and reinforce academic integrity,” the university said in a statement.
Revocation of the degree may be a personal humiliation, but its implications reach far wider – for Kim and for potentially those who come after her.
“She was like a bian lian performer,” said Lee Jun-han, a political-science professor at Incheon National University, referring to the Chinese opera tradition in which masked characters change faces in a flash. “You never quite knew who she really was.”
Kookmin University has also announced it will rescind Kim’s doctorate on procedural grounds. “If the master’s degree submitted for admission is nullified, the candidate no longer meets the basic requirements for a doctorate,” the university said.
Kim was awarded her PhD in 2008 for a dissertation on “the development of fortune-telling content using avatars” – a niche topic that has taken on political relevance amid reports of her reliance on spiritual advisers. This thesis too has faced separate plagiarism allegations.
Kim and her husband were widely reported to have consulted fortune-tellers and other mystics – several of whom are now under investigation for suspected influence-peddling.
Since being hospitalised last week, reportedly with severe depression, Kim has not appeared in public. She has also ignored multiple summonses from prosecutors.
Critics allege that, until recently, her connection to Yoon, a former prosecutor general, had shielded her from serious legal implications. But the tide may be turning.
A special counsel team – comprising 205 independent investigators, including 40 prosecutors – is preparing to launch a sweeping inquiry authorised by the National Assembly.
Divided into eight task forces, the team will investigate 16 categories of alleged misconduct involving Kim, ranging from receiving luxury gifts – such as Chanel bags and a US$44,000 Graff necklace from a Unification Church official – to stock manipulation and alleged political meddling in candidate nominations during a by-election in 2022 and the general election in 2024.
The investigation will also examine accusations that Yoon’s presidential office pressured law enforcement to suppress a 2023 drug-smuggling case allegedly implicating tax officials.
Yoon himself is being targeted by a separate special prosecutor team, of up to 60 prosecutors, over allegations related to his declaration of martial law last year in response to political turmoil.
Amid intensifying scrutiny, Seoul prosecutors have stepped up their investigation, revealing what many are calling a “smoking gun”: voice recordings of Kim dating to 2009.
Seized last month from a brokerage, the tapes reportedly capture Kim instructing collaborators: “We have to give 40 per cent of the profits to the account manager’s side,” and, “They are demanding an excessive share of the profits.”
Choi said Kim had stirred public outrage by “violating basic norms of conduct as the first lady” and warned that her actions had set a troubling precedent.
“She’s created as many, if not more, scandals than her husband. She must bear equal responsibility for dragging this country into disgrace and crisis,” he added.
