Arya News - Political rows over presidential golf outings continue to spark controversy in South Korea, where rival parties trade accusations of "double standards" and hypocrisy whenever national leaders hit the links during times of crisis.
SEOUL – South Korea’s politicians are once again butting heads over golf — this time with the focus on first lady Kim Hea Kyung.
Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the main opposition People Power Party has accused the presidential couple of enjoying special privileges, including reserving consecutive tee time slots to play golf at a military-owned golf course, Taereung Country Club in eastern Seoul.
Joo has claimed that Lee was spotted playing golf there with his family on Oct. 10 and first lady Kim went again on Oct. 20 for an on-course golf lesson. Those dates, he added, coincide with a supermarket ceiling collapse in Daegu and an arson attack in southern Seoul, respectively.
The lawmaker raised new speculations Tuesday, claiming the presidential family may have played golf on up to 25 occasions since Lee’s inauguration in June 2025, citing consecutive tee time slot reservations.
Joo also called on the presidential special inspector to investigate the matter to reveal who accompanied the golf outings, and how the costs were covered.
Lee’s office has not denied that the presidential couple was playing golf then.
On Oct. 11, the presidential office acknowledged that the president had received a briefing regarding the Daegu incident while playing golf on Oct. 10. At the time, Cheong Wa Dae said that the president’s private schedule is not customarily disclosed, but an exception was being made to “prevent unnecessary controversies.”
A few days later, the presidential office unveiled that it had established a task force to support Lee’s golfing ahead of a possible golf meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Joo’s claims have also prompted Cheong Wa Dae to caution the media, saying quoting politicians’ unverified claims “amounts to an abandonment of the media’s responsibility to verify whether information is true.”
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, chaired by the ruling Democratic Party’s Rep. Seo Young-kyo, refused Joo’s request Monday to play the video Joo claims to show Kim playing golf as evidence.
Authencity in question
Some question the authenticity of Joo’s claims.
On Monday, Joo claimed in a video shared to his YouTube channel that Korean-born New Zealander golf player Lydia Ko had offered a private lesson to the first lady. Ko quickly refuted the claim, saying that she was attending an official event for a sponsor at the suggested time. Following Ko’s comments, the clip had been edited to remove the parts containing Joo’s refuted claims.
Joo refused to apologize to Ko, however, saying that any demand for an apology is an attempt to cloud and cast doubt on the issue at hand.
He added he was not at fault because he had taken necessary actions by editing the video and was not meant to criticize the golfer who accompanied the first lady’s game.
Double standards and the golf stigma
In Korea, politics and golfing have long been shadowed by negative images of corruption, power brokering and secret deals.
This, in part, was due to several cases in which powerful figures were found to have been playing golf during major incidents, often leading to resignations from their posts or disciplinary actions in the face of public anger.
One example is the case concerning late former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who stepped down after golfing during a unionized train workers’ strike in March 2006. Former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo was slapped with a 10-month suspension from his People Power Party membership after playing golf in July 2023 at the time of a deadly downpour nationwide.
Korea’s political parties have also held double standards, defending or attacking golf depending on who is in power.
The Democratic Party, currently defending Lee against golf-related allegations, blasted former President Yoon Suk Yeol for playing golf in 2024. President Lee Jae Myung, then Democratic Party chair, accused Yoon of “emperor-style” golf funded with the “blood, sweat, and tears of ordinary people.”
Much like the defense recently offered by the Lee administration, the People Power Party defended Yoon’s golfing in 2024 by citing the possibility of golfing with Trump and a president’s right to leisure activities during his own time.
“If we were to go back two years and reveal footage of (Yoon’s wife) Kim Keon Hee playing golf in the same manner that first lady Kim is seen doing now, the entire nation would have been turned upside down,” Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party said in a party meeting Tuesday. “This is an example of profound hypocrisy.”
“Is it diplomacy when Yoon plays golf, yet a crime when Lee and his wife do the same? This is a typical double standard,” Rep. Lee Ju-hee of the Democratic Party told reporters Tuesday.