Yoon Jae-soon, Chief Secretary for General Affairs of the Presidential Secretariat, is responding to questions from lawmakers at the full meeting of the Steering Committee held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 30th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Presidential Office explained that some of the jewelry worn by First Lady Kim Geon-hee during overseas trips, which the opposition party claimed was missing from the asset declaration, was "borrowed from acquaintances and some were purchased from small business owners."
On the 30th, the Presidential Office's General Affairs Secretary's Office responded to a question from Jeon Yong-gi, a member of the National Assembly's Steering Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, stating, "Out of three pieces of jewelry, two were borrowed from acquaintances," and "one piece was purchased from a small business owner, and the amount does not fall under the reporting requirement," according to the lawmaker's office.
Yoon Jae-soon, General Affairs Secretary of the Presidential Office, explained to Representative Jeon after the National Assembly Steering Committee plenary session that "the jewelry worn by the First Lady during the trip was borrowed locally, so it was not omitted from the asset declaration," but later the General Affairs Secretary's Office issued a correction, the lawmaker's office said.
The lawmaker's office also stated that during the additional explanation process, the General Affairs Secretary's Office did not separately mention the identity of the acquaintances or the existence of contracts.
During the plenary session of the Steering Committee that day, Representative Jeon asked, "I saw an article stating that the necklace and bracelet worn by the First Lady during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) trip were expensive," and inquired, "Did you check whether the jewelry was declared in the asset report?"
In response, Secretary Yoon said, "I saw the report, but it has not been verified whether the General Affairs Secretary's Office declared it."
Earlier, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom stated on Facebook, "First Lady Kim Geon-hee owns at least three pieces of reportable jewelry, including a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace (estimated value over 60 million KRW), a Cartier bracelet (estimated value over 15 million KRW), and a Tiffany brooch (estimated value over 26 million KRW)," and claimed, "If so, President Yoon omitted these from the asset declaration since his first registration after taking office."
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