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

SEOUL - The wife of South Koreas main conservative party candidate has taken a leading role ahead of next weeks elections, campaigning on her own to tarnish the image of the liberal frontrunner and his spouse and turbocharge her husbands 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 husbands chief rival and promoting a clean family image for her spouse, conservative People Power Party candidate Kim Moon-soo.

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 Lees 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 doesnt 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 Yoons wife improperly accepting a Dior handbag that is considered a factor in the PPPs loss in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The impact on Yoon of controversies surrounding his wife