Jung Eul-ho appointed as spouse secretary general, Baek Seung-ah designated as spouse support chief
On the 9th, Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the Democratic Party, resigned from his position and effectively began the process of running for president. It has been confirmed that the selection of the 'spouse secretary team' to assist his spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, has also been completed.
On the same day, Segye Ilbo reported that former Representative Lee has nominated Jung Eul-ho as the spouse secretary general and Baek Seung-ah as the spouse support chief.
Both are current members of the National Assembly, and there is an analysis that this strategy aims to prepare thoroughly against various malicious attacks directed at Kim in the lead-up to the presidential election.
Awareness of the previous administration's Kim Keon-hee risk… "Expansion of spouse management organization"
This nomination seems to be conscious of the various controversies surrounding former President Yoon Seok-yeol's spouse, Kim Keon-hee, which emerged as one of the biggest variables in the 2022 presidential election. The Democratic Party plans to manage spouse-related issues thoroughly from the primary stage to prevent unnecessary controversies in advance.
Representative Jung Eul-ho is a former party official of the Democratic Party and is evaluated to have a stable issue response capability. As the spouse secretary general, he is expected to oversee Kim's external schedules and overall message management.
Representative Baek Seung-ah, a former chairman of the Gangwon Teachers' Union, is a member of the Gender Equality and Family Committee and the Education Committee. She is the figure who raised the issue of thesis plagiarism concerning former President Yoon's spouse and will accompany the spouse's schedule and respond on-site as the support chief.
Strengthening the spouse support system… "More thorough than before"
It is noteworthy that the Democratic Party has significantly strengthened the spouse support system compared to previous elections in its preparations for this presidential election. After introducing the position of "spouse secretary" for the first time in the 2021 20th presidential election, the position has been expanded to two heads in this election.
In the previous Lee Jae-myung campaign, pro-Lee member Lee Hae-sik served as the spouse secretary to assist Kim, but this time, two current members of the National Assembly have been assigned as secretary general and support chief, showing efforts to manage spouse-related risks.
A Democratic Party official explained, "As the presidential election becomes more serious, the candidate's spouse will also attract more public interest, so we judged that it is necessary to deploy a separate organization and personnel for thorough management."
Image source: Kim Hye-kyung / News1, Jung Eul-ho / News1, Baek Seung-ah / News1, Kim Keon-hee / News1
