"Responsibility for Handling Kim Gun-hee's Luxury Bag Receipt Suspicion"... Anti-Corruption Commission Member Resigns

"Condolences to the Agreed Committee Members"

Choi Jeong-mook, a non-standing member of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), announced his intention to resign, taking responsibility for closing the case regarding the suspicion of luxury handbag receipt involving Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee visited the ancient city of Samarkand, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, on the last day of their state visits to three Central Asian countries on the 15th (local time).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Commissioner Choi was appointed as a member recommended by the opposition party in the National Assembly and previously served as an administrative officer in the Presidential Secretariat under the Roh Moo-hyun administration and as a member of the Presidential Policy Planning Committee under the Moon Jae-in administration.

On the 18th, Commissioner Choi expressed his intention to resign in a statement, saying, "I take responsibility for the closure of the case." He added, "I extend my condolences to the commissioners who agreed to close the case and ask for understanding of the situation where the decision had to be made regardless of personal beliefs."

Commissioner Choi was one of the members who participated in the vote to close the reported case at the full commission meeting of the ACRC held on the 10th.

He said, "I expected the vote result to be 12 to 3, but it came out as 8 to 7," adding, "This was the result due to the 'individual responsibility of commissioners.'"

Meanwhile, the prosecution plans to form a dedicated investigation team to conduct an investigation independently of the ACRC's decision.