Candidate spouses take centre stage in South Korea's heated presidential race

The wife of South Korea's main conservative party candidate has taken a leading role ahead of next week's elections, campaigning on her own to tarnish the image of the liberal frontrunner and his spouse and turbocharge her husband's bid.

Last week, Seol Nan-young even took her unusually vocal criticism onto Saturday Night Live Korea, joking about scandals dogging the wife of her husband's chief rival and promoting a clean family image for her spouse, conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo.

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Kim is fighting an uphill battle to separate himself from former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and removed from office over a short-lived martial law attempt in December.

Meanwhile, frontrunner Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party is far ahead in the polls but both he and his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, face criminal allegations. The charges are unlikely to derail Lee's candidacy but they have provided ample fodder for Seol to question his ethical standing.

Seol has made Kim Hye-kyung, who was fined for misusing a government credit card to dine at a restaurant when her husband was a provincial governor, one of her main targets. Kim has denied the charges and appealed the ruling.

"I think this is an important election, whether you choose clean, honest, upright Kim Moon-soo or another candidate who is corrupt, and lies," Seol said at a recent speaking engagement of about 400 supporters and female lawmakers who introduced her as someone who "doesn't use corporate credit card".

"Spouse risk" as it is called in Korean has become an election hot topic after a series of scandals, including one about Yoon's wife improperly accepting a Dior handbag that is considered a factor in the PPP's loss in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The impact on Yoon of controversies surrounding his wife was even considered a factor in his decision to declare martial law in December, experts say.

On Tuesday Kim Moon-soo said if elected he would appoint a special inspector to examine claims of wrongdoing by members of the president's family, saying instead of public service and sacrifice, first ladies have become synonymous with expensive clothes, foreign trips, bags and necklaces.

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For Lee, a string of legal problems surrounding him and his wife have been amplified by his rivals and the PPP even called for a wives debate on ethics, which Lee's party has rejected.

During her Saturday Night Live appearance, Seol was asked whether Lee's wife's corporate credit misuse was worse than Yoon's spouse accepting the luxury bag. She said using the card, tantamount to mishandling taxpayer money, was worse.

Her appearance drew criticism from Lee's party, which warned her not to cross the line.

Lee declined to comment when asked by reporters if his wife intends to break her silence and campaign like Seol, jokingly saying "I don't know much about what my wife is doing".

The attacks on Kim Hye-kyung could prevent Lee's ratings from rising ahead of the June 3 polls, said Lee Jun-han, a political science professor at Incheon National University.

"In Korean politics, spouses and their influences are big, in many cases in a negative way," he said.

"Kim's wife is trying to be a dark horse and strategically showing she is different from Lee's wife."