Citizen Group Files Complaint Against Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission Over Allegations of Kim Yeo-sa's Luxury Bag Bribery Case Closure

Pastor Choi Jaeyoung "Crime of Damaging National Records"

A civic group has filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Yoo Cheol-hwan, the Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, who closed the case regarding allegations of luxury bag acceptance by First Lady Kim Geon-hee.

Kim Han-me, Standing Representative of the Civic Group for Judicial Justice (Sasehaeng), is speaking in front of the Civil Complaints Office of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Department at the Government Complex Gwacheon on the 17th, before filing a complaint against President Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife, as well as Yucheol Hwan, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, on charges including bribery, violation of the Kim Young-ran Act, and dereliction of duty.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 17th, the Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice (Sasehaeng) held a press conference in front of the Government Complex Gwacheon and announced that they would accuse Chairperson Yoo of dereliction of duty. They also filed complaints against President Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife for bribery, violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and violation of the Public Officials Ethics Act.

Sasehaeng criticized, "They reached an incomprehensible conclusion by closing the case without even conducting written or face-to-face investigations of the public officials involved in accepting valuables," adding, "This completely undermines the purpose of introducing the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, which is to strengthen the integrity of the public service."

Pastor Choi Jae-young, who directly delivered the luxury bag to First Lady Kim, also attended the press conference. Pastor Choi stated, "The Presidential Office responded that among various gifts, only the Dior bag is preserved as a national record. If that is the case, then my books found in the recycling bin were damaged and discarded, so I want to add the charge of destruction of national records."

This was a rebuttal to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s earlier judgment that even if the acceptance of the luxury bag was related to official duties, valuables received by the President and his spouse are immediately designated as presidential records owned by the state, and valuables received from foreigners are permitted within the scope of official duties.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission received a report from People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy last December accusing President Yoon and his wife, as well as Pastor Choi, of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and closed the case on the 10th of this month, six months later, with a finding of "no violation."