People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy "Anti-Corruption Commission must publicly release official decision document on 'Kim Geon-hee luxury bag'"

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) has urged the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) to publicly release the official decision document regarding the case in which the ACRC concluded 'no charges' in the suspicion of Kim Geon-hee receiving luxury bags. The ACRC claimed that the luxury bags Kim received were unrelated to her official duties, and even if there was a connection, Pastor Choi Jae-young is a foreigner with U.S. nationality, so the gifts were not subject to reporting requirements.

First Lady Kim Keon-hee arrived at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on the 10th to embark on a tour of three Central Asian countries: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, heading towards Air Force One, her exclusive aircraft.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 13th, PSPD stated in a commentary, "The ACRC only provided a 72-second verbal briefing by Vice Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon on the 10th without any press release regarding this case," and strongly criticized, "It is truly outrageous that the ACRC neither issued an official decision document nor a press release on a matter that has attracted nationwide attention and calls for a special prosecutor."

Regarding Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Jeong Seung-yoon’s remarks at a luncheon meeting with reporters on the 12th that "the luxury bag gifts received by Mrs. Kim are not related to the president’s official duties and therefore are not subject to reporting, and the majority opinion of the plenary committee members is that the luxury bag gifts are unrelated to the president’s official duties," PSPD rebutted, "According to media reports, opinions within the plenary committee were sharply divided, and it is known that 7 out of 15 members opposed closing the case against President Yoon Seok-yeol."

PSPD added, "A presidential office official has stated that the luxury bags received by Kim Geon-hee are being preserved as 'presidential records,'" and argued, "This can be interpreted as the presidential office acknowledging the connection to official duties. The ACRC’s decision that there is no relation to official duties contradicts the presidential office’s explanation."

Regarding Vice Chairman Jeong’s statement that "even if there is a connection to official duties, gifts given by foreigners are classified as presidential records owned by the state and thus are not subject to reporting obligations," PSPD criticized, "Article 2 of the current Presidential Records Act stipulates that presidential gifts include those under Article 15 of the Public Officials Ethics Act. Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the Public Officials Ethics Act states that 'public officials or executives of public-related organizations must promptly report to the head of their organization any gifts received from foreigners or gifts received from foreigners related to their official duties, and must hand over such gifts. The same applies if their family members receive gifts from foreigners or if gifts are received from foreigners related to the official duties of such public officials or executives.' Therefore, Vice Chairman Jeong’s claim does not align with current laws."

Finally, PSPD emphasized, "The plenary committee’s decision document and meeting minutes must be disclosed so that all citizens can clearly understand the basis of the ACRC’s judgment," and urged, "The disposition results should be promptly sent to PSPD, the whistleblower in this case."