Representative Baek: "Mrs. Kim Will Sequentially Submit Evidence of Long-Term Bribery Requests"
Baek Eun-jong, the representative of Seoul's Voice who filed a complaint against President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Geon-hee regarding allegations of receiving luxury bags, appeared at the prosecution office.
Regarding the suspicion of Kim Geon-hee's receipt of luxury handbags, Baek Eun-jong, the representative of the online media outlet Seoul's Voice, who filed a complaint against President Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 20th as a complainant and spoke to reporters. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@
The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) summoned Baek on the 20th as a complainant for questioning.
Baek, who is the representative of Seoul's Voice and was the first to report the video of the luxury bag delivery, filed a complaint last December accusing President Yoon and his wife of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and bribery charges. The prosecution is reportedly verifying the circumstances under which Baek investigated and reported the luxury bag allegations and the purpose of the complaint.
Before appearing at the prosecution, Baek additionally filed a complaint at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office against President Yoon and his wife. The complaint requests investigation into four matters: allegations that First Lady Kim received luxury cosmetics and perfumes worth about 1.8 million KRW and liquor worth about 400,000 KRW in addition to the luxury bag; allegations of receiving gifts from unidentified waiting persons in front of the Kobana Contents office; allegations of personnel intervention and abuse of power related to 'Financial Services Commission personnel requests'; and allegations of evidence destruction by presidential office officials regarding the designation of the luxury bag as a presidential record.
Speaking to reporters before his appearance, Baek said, "Although I cannot disclose all the details, one of the messenger (chat) screenshots submitted today contains a request for solicitation to First Lady Kim," adding, "I plan to sequentially submit evidence proving that First Lady Kim received solicitation-type bribes over a long period during the complainant investigation."
He continued, "Today, I will explain the circumstances that justify revealing the messenger content clearly showing solicitation, when the tip-off was received, what was exchanged, and provide detailed explanations," and added, "I intend to give statements that help understand the prosecution's investigation process."
During the investigation, Baek plans to submit to the prosecution the original 30-minute video showing the luxury bag delivery process, along with some KakaoTalk conversation data in which Pastor Choi Jae-young requests personnel favors related to a third party to First Lady Kim.
Baek, together with reporter Lee Myung-soo of Seoul's Voice, reported after receiving footage filmed following Pastor Choi providing a Dior bag and a watch-type hidden camera intended as gifts for First Lady Kim. In December last year, they filed a complaint at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office accusing President Yoon and his wife of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and bribery charges.
The prosecution plans to summon Kwon, a resident of Acrovista who reported to the media on the 21st that he found books presumed to have been gifted by Pastor Choi to First Lady Kim, for questioning on the same day.
Earlier, Kwon claimed that shortly after President Yoon and his wife moved into the official residence at the end of 2022, he found Pastor Choi's handwritten notes on books at the Acrovista apartment recycling area in Seocho-gu, Seoul, along with memoirs containing handwritten inscriptions by Lee Soon-ja, wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan, addressed to President Yoon, and memoirs stamped with the seal of former President Kim Young-sam.
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