Overseas trips add to debate over Korea's shifting political standards

President Lee Jae Myung’s overseas trips have again drawn attention to Korea’s shifting political standards, adding to a familiar cycle of disputes over presidential golf and the presidential plane whenever power passes between conservative and liberal administrations. The controversies center on taxpayer money and the public's attitudes toward presidential privilege, with governing parties defending certain activities as necessary for diplomacy or official duties and the opposition calling them wasteful or excessive — arguments that often switch sides under successive administrations. In the latest controversy, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Friday defended the frequency of Lee’s overseas trips accompanied by first lady Kim Hea Kyung. “Korea’s international standing requires its president to attend regular multilateral gatherings and bilateral visits,” Wi said. “Spouses also accompany leaders as an established diplomatic practice.” Wi’s defense followed an Oct. 1 analysis by Rep. Lee Jin-sook of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP). It counted 14 tri