So-yeon Schröder-Kim
So-yeon Schröder-Kim | |
|---|---|
| 김소연 | |
 So-yeon (left) with Gerhard (right) | |
| Born | Kim So-yeon June 3, 1970 Seoul, South Korea |
| Spouse(s) |
Unknown (div. 2017) |
| Children | 1 |
So-yeon Schröder-Kim (Korean: 김소연; born 3 June 1970) is a South Korean interpreter, translator, and the fifth wife of a former German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder.
Career
Kim So-yeon was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1970. She moved to Marburg, Germany in 1995.[1] She utilized her multilingual skills by working as a translator shortly after. She notably translated a series of books and essays about South Korean president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung.[2] In 2011, she was hired by NRW.INVEST, a state-owned economic development agency of North Rhine-Westphalia.[3][4] She succeeded in helping more than eighty South Korean entrepreneurs branch out in the state. In 2023, she was dismissed for attending a Victory Day event in the Russian embassy in Berlin amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] She was compensated in September of that year.[6]
Personal life
So-yeon's first marriage was to a South Korean plastic surgeon, with whom she had a daughter. They divorced in 2017. She then married former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in 2018. Gerhard had served as chancellor from 1998 to 2005 as a member of the SPD. They met in 2015. So-yeon translated Gerhard's autobiography into Korean.[7] They live in Hannover and Seoul. Her first husband filed a lawsuit, alleging an affair.[8]
She is fluent in German and Japanese, as well as her native Korean. She is a devout Christian.[9]
References
- ^ "Der Altkanzler, die Liebe und Marburg". Oberhessische Presse. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Begegnungen mit Kim Dae-jung". uni-frankfurt.de. HeBIS. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Außenwirtschaftsförderung | WIRTSCHAFT.NRW". www.wirtschaft.nrw (in German). Archived from the original on 2019-02-19. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). gruene-fraktion-nrw.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Nordrhein-westfälische Landesgesellschaft stellt Soyeon Schröder-Kim frei". Der Spiegel (in German). 2023-05-16. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Soyeon Schröder-Kim: Fristlose Kündigung – NRW zahlt Schröder-Ehefrau Entschädigung - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Gerhard Schröder hat eine neue Freundin". FAZ.NET (in German). 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Gerhard Schröder von Ex-Mann seiner Verlobten Soyeon Kim verklagt". Der Spiegel (in German). 2018-05-01. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ Außer Dienst? Die Gerhard Schröder Story - hier anschauen (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-16 – via www.ardmediathek.de.