Spouses take centre stage in S Korea

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 front-runner and his spouse and turbocharge her husband's bid.

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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.

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, front-runner 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.