Prosecutors Launch Full-Scale Investigation into 'Kim Geon-hee's Luxury Handbag'... Focus on Whether Mrs. Kim Will Be Summoned

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The prosecution team dedicated to investigating the luxury handbag receipt allegations involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, is set to intensify the investigation soon by summoning the accuser for questioning.

According to the legal community on the 5th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) plans to summon Baek Eun-jong, the representative of the internet media outlet Seoul's Voice, as the accuser for investigation.

Seoul's Voice revealed last November that First Lady Kim received a luxury handbag worth about 3 million won as a gift from Pastor Choi Jae-young, a Korean-American, on September 13, 2022, after President Yoon's inauguration.

The video they released was reportedly filmed by Pastor Choi using a 'wristwatch hidden camera,' with the gift and the hidden camera prepared by Seoul's Voice.

Subsequently, in December last year, Baek filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office accusing President Yoon and his wife of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

On the day, Baek told a media outlet, "I was asked if I could come for the accuser's investigation on the 8th, and I casually said I would go around the 9th, but after reports emerged that the prosecution ordered the investigation to be completed within May, we held another internal meeting and concluded that there was no need to rush." Baek is currently coordinating the investigation date with the prosecution.

The key issue in the accuser's investigation is expected to be the connection between the luxury handbag received by First Lady Kim and President Yoon's official duties.

The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act stipulates that the spouse of a public official must not receive or request money or valuables exceeding a certain amount "in relation to official duties."

Seoul's Voice argues that since President Yoon has the authority to appoint Pastor Choi, a unification activist, as an advisory member of the Presidential Committee on Democratic Peaceful Unification, the connection to official duties should be recognized.

The prosecution is expected to verify the relationship between First Lady Kim and Pastor Choi, as well as the circumstances under which the gift was given, through investigations of Baek and Pastor Choi to assess the official duty connection.

Even if the prosecution determines there is a connection to official duties, the legal community generally views the likelihood of First Lady Kim being punished as low.

This is because the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act does not include provisions to punish the spouse of a public official. It only punishes the public official themselves if they knowingly fail to properly report the receipt of money or valuables by their spouse related to official duties.

Therefore, for President Yoon, whether he properly reported the receipt of the luxury handbag by First Lady Kim after becoming aware of it could become another key issue.

There is also interest in whether the prosecution will conduct a direct investigation of First Lady Kim. Although she is currently under accusation and considered a suspect, since there are no applicable punishment provisions, she is practically close to a witness. Thus, even if the prosecution wants to hear her opinion to thoroughly examine the circumstances, they do not have the authority to compel her to testify.

However, if no investigation takes place, the opposition parties could use this as justification to call for a special prosecutor, placing considerable pressure on the prosecution.