July 15, 2025
SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung’s office on Monday introduced the nation’s ‘first dog,’ Bobby.
On his Instagram post, Lee unveiled a photo of himself sitting on an armchair along with the dog. Lee said in the post that his family has been raising the dog.
“A fourth of South Korea’s population lives with a pet. Through Bobby, who gives us happiness and solace by just being with us, I could understand the minds of people who are living with their pets,” read the post.
Lee’s office did not immediately elaborate on how old the first dog was, when Lee’s family began raising the dog or its gender.
The story of Bobby was first revealed at his meeting with civil servant trainees at Jincheon-eup, North Chungcheong Province, earlier Monday.
When asked about how a newly recruited civil servant could become a beloved teammate as the newest member of a team, Lee said he or she can do so by trying to win the teammates’ hearts.
In doing so, he shared a recent episode he had with Bobby, saying, “Even dogs know that they are beloved or not. I had a bit of an argument with my wife this morning because (Bobby) just goes to my wife. I was a bit frustrated.”
He continued, “But I got to understand its feeling. It’s because it’s my wife who feeds the dog and hangs out with it. I sometimes do.”
There, Lee stressed that a show of integrity is what makes a human relationship between teammates get going,
“It’s not the technique, it’s the mind, or the virtuous mind, that makes it work,” Lee said.
