Prosecutors to Question Complainants Today in Case of Pastor Choi Jaeyoung Providing Luxury Bags to Kim Gunhee

Pastor Choi Claims "No Job-Related Connection"

The prosecution investigating allegations of luxury bag acceptance involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, will summon representatives of civic groups who filed complaints against Pastor Choi Jae-young, who gifted the luxury bag to Mrs. Kim, for questioning on the 9th.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) will summon Kim Soon-hwan, Secretary General of the People's Livelihood Countermeasures Committee, at 2 p.m. on the same day for questioning as a complainant regarding Pastor Choi. Previously, Secretary General Kim filed a complaint with the prosecution accusing Pastor Choi of trespassing and obstruction of official duties by deception.

Pastor Choi Jae-young. [Photo by Yonhap News]

In the complaint, Secretary General Kim stated, "The accused (Pastor Choi) is reasonably suspected of having made a thorough plan motivated by private interests rather than public interest, in response to the social upheaval caused by the release of the '7-hour recording' of a phone call between First Lady Kim Keon-hee and reporter Lee Myung-soo of Seoul's Voice during the 20th presidential election. Pastor Choi allegedly made some kind of deal with Seoul's Voice and engaged in the progression of the case and illegal filming."

Secretary General Kim also pointed out that Seoul's Voice prepared the luxury bag gifted to Mrs. Kim and the wristwatch with a built-in miniature camera used for hidden filming, stating, "This proves a rational suspicion that it was a meticulously planned crime involving retaliation and profit rather than a public interest purpose."

He argued, "The accused's claim that the video was filmed for evidence collection with a public interest purpose to protect the people's right to know and prevent state corruption, amid suspicions of personnel solicitation, distorts the essence and is a fraudulent act deceiving the public." He added, "The fact that the accused illegally filmed the video corresponds to trespassing and obstruction of official duties by deception, as he penetrated the presidential security guards' security checks."

Meanwhile, at the same time, the prosecution will also summon Hong Jung-sik, representative of another civic group, Halbindan, for questioning as a complainant regarding Pastor Choi. Previously, Hong filed complaints against Pastor Choi, Seoul's Voice representative Baek Eun-jong, and reporter Lee Myung-soo for violations of the Anti-Graft Act and false accusations. Representative Baek is scheduled to appear for questioning on the 20th.

In his complaint, Hong stated, "The accused have habitually engaged in false personal defamation, insults, and libel against President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Kim Keon-hee." He claimed, "Amid a situation where public opinion was under pressure due to a court ruling on damages for defamation related to recorded phone calls involving President Yoon and Mrs. Kim, the accused secretly filmed the gift-giving process in September last year and released the footage on their YouTube channel and distributed it to the media to join the Democratic Party's political offensive through a special prosecutor law, thereby committing acts of personal defamation and libel against the President and Mrs. Kim."

He emphasized, "The series of acts committed in conspiracy by the accused under the pretext of 'the people's right to know' were criminal acts intended to intentionally and maliciously defame and slander President Yoon and Mrs. Kim. In particular, the accused conspired in advance to secretly film the gift-giving with a wrist camera, which constitutes a gift solicitation act under the Anti-Graft Act, making punishment under the Anti-Graft Act and related laws inevitable."

Hong also stated, "The accused filed complaints with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office against President Yoon and Mrs. Kim for violations of the Anti-Graft Act and other charges to legally challenge their own gift-giving acts." He added, "Despite knowing that under the current Anti-Graft Act, the recipient spouse of a public official is not punished while the giver is, and that the President is constitutionally immune from criminal prosecution, the accused repeatedly filed complaints to deliberately damage and insult the honor of the presidential couple and disseminated these to the media. Such acts by the accused are serious crimes with impure intentions to damage the honor and dignity of the head of state, lowering the nation's prestige, and cannot escape criminal punishment under defamation, insult, and false accusation laws."

Finally, Hong cited Pastor Choi's book contents and past activities, including submitting a petition for former Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki during a police investigation for violating the National Security Act and opposing the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act, as well as the support Pastor Choi received from progressive organizations like the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), which claimed police investigations were unjust, as evidence of Pastor Choi's 'anti-government pro-North Korean and pro-communist activities.'

He argued, "Pastor Choi has clearly shown a friendly stance toward the North Korean regime and received support from anti-conservative forces such as 'Seoul's Voice' and 'NCCK.' Therefore, it seems more reasonable to view the 'hidden camera operation' as stemming from his ideological issues rather than public interest."

Meanwhile, Pastor Choi stated in a phone interview with a media outlet the previous day that there was no job-related connection when he visited Mrs. Kim in September 2022 to gift the luxury bag.

According to the report, he explained his motive for giving the luxury bag as "reporting on corruption involving Kim Keon-hee in the public domain and in the interest of the people's right to know." When asked if there was no job-related connection, he answered, "That's correct."

Previously, Seoul's Voice claimed that Mrs. Kim violated the Anti-Graft Act, citing the inclusion of unification-related content in conversations between Mrs. Kim and Pastor Choi as evidence. However, Pastor Choi himself denied any job-related connection.

Pastor Choi's stance appears to be a preemptive move to avoid prosecution for allegedly delivering prohibited gifts to the spouse of a public official under the Anti-Graft Act, ahead of the prosecution's investigation. The prosecution plans to summon Pastor Choi next week as a suspect for questioning.

Under the Anti-Graft Act, the spouse of a public official is prohibited from receiving gifts related to official duties. Furthermore, a person who provides gifts to the spouse of a public official is only liable under the Anti-Graft Act if the gift is related to official duties.

This is why the job-related connection is a key issue in this case.

Regarding this, a prosecution official said, "We cannot assume (there is no job-related connection), but the job-related connection is important. We cannot judge the job-related connection solely based on what the person says; we need to consider various factors comprehensively."

The prosecution recently requested unedited original footage from Pastor Choi and Seoul's Voice of the day of the incident. This is interpreted as meaning they will determine the presence or absence of a job-related connection after reviewing the entire conversation between Mrs. Kim and Pastor Choi.