Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party raised allegations on the 26th that first lady Kim Hye-kyung, wife of President Lee Jae-myung, had received preferential treatment on a golf course, setting off a day of sharp exchanges among the presidential office, the ruling Democratic Party and the PPP. Joo claimed that Kim played golf on the 20th accompanied by a well-known professional golfer. The presidential office called the claim false, and the Democratic Party said it would file a criminal complaint against Joo. Joo responded that he would file a counter-complaint for malicious accusation, turning the dispute into a round of competing legal filings.
The controversy began with a Facebook post Joo published that morning. "On the 20th, the day a fire in Yeoksam-dong left 19 people dead or injured, Kim Hye-kyung played imperial golf accompanied by a famous professional golfer," Joo wrote. "She enjoyed a three-person round at Taereung CC, and the presidential clubhouse was opened for her as well."
He went on to argue that field lessons with a world-class professional golfer cost tens of millions of won, asking who covered the expense. "One man also played golf, and private use of military facilities by the Lee Jae-myung family is a crime," he said.
The presidential office rejected Joo's claims as false. In a notice issued under the name of the senior secretary's office for public communication, it criticized what it called "quotation-mark reporting" that transcribes a politician's one-sided claims without even minimal fact-checking, saying such coverage abandons the media's responsibility to verify. It asked news organizations to exercise caution in their reporting.
The Democratic Party also pushed back in a written briefing issued under the name of floor spokesperson Lee Ju-hee. "Taereung CC is operated by the Armed Forces Welfare Service, but it is a golf course that civilians can also reserve and use," the briefing said, adding that calling such use "private use of military facilities" makes no sense. Turning to Joo, the party asked who had written "this absurd work of fiction," saying that layering on sensational modifiers does not turn suspicion into fact.
Joo then posted a related video on Facebook. The one-minute, 37-second clip carried captions identifying the location as Taereung golf course and the date as Oct. 20, and showed a woman receiving a golf lesson.
The dispute over Kim's golf outing spilled into the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit the same day. When Joo tried to play the video there, committee chair Seo Young-kyo of the ruling party blocked him. "Is it appropriate to use footage in a parliamentary audit when we don't know where it was secretly filmed?" Seo said. Lawmakers from both parties cut off one another's remarks and raised their voices during the exchange, disrupting the proceedings.
Joo claimed the golfer in the video was Lydia Ko and said he would release the footage outside the committee if he could not play it there. Ko pushed back in a post on social media, saying the reports had nothing to do with her and that on the date mentioned she had been carrying out official sponsor events.
The Democratic Party ultimately announced through a notice to the press that it would soon file a criminal complaint against Joo for repeatedly spreading false information about the president's family. Joo shot back that the party's refusal to let him play the video at the judiciary committee amounted to an admission. "They say they will file a complaint against me, and I plan to file a counter-complaint for malicious accusation," he said. With both sides signaling legal action, the clash over the allegations surrounding the first lady's golf outing is expected to continue for some time.