The Presidential Office on the 22nd flatly denied allegations that Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism funds were concentrated on overseas events attended solely by first lady Kim Hye-kyung. It said no separate budget was set aside for the first lady, and that she simply took part in previously planned ministry cultural events that coincided with presidential overseas trips.
In an official statement that day, the office said, "The culture ministry does not have a separate budget for the first lady," adding that "she attended the events when circumstances such as overseas trip schedules allowed." It also made clear that the events are regular programs hosted by the ministry and overseas Korean cultural centers in consultation with local missions and host countries, regardless of whether the first lady attends.
One media outlet earlier reported that 1.4 billion won ($980,000) in culture ministry funds supported nine overseas events that Kim attended alone, without President Lee Jae-myung, between September last year and July this year. The outlet said the spending was far larger than the budgets provided to previous first ladies during their terms, citing 378.6 million won for Kim Keon-hee and 238 million won for Kim Jung-sook.
The Presidential Office countered that the growth in related budgets and the scale of the events reflects rising local demand amid the global spread of K-culture. "The culture ministry and overseas Korean cultural centers plan events taking local demand into account, and unlike in the past, both participants and audiences are increasing sharply," the office said.
It pointed directly to a K-pop competition in New Delhi, India, where the audience grew nearly fourfold from 800 in 2025 to 3,000 this year. The office said this showed that budgets had not been artificially increased as a favor for the first lady's solo events.