Suspicion Over Kim Gun-hee's Luxury Bag Ends
Multiple Inquiries on Similar Cases Sent to Anti-Corruption Commission
On the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) website's Improper Solicitation and Graft Act Q&A board, there has been a flood of inquiries asking, "Is it problematic to gift the President's wife traditional Korean yeot worth about 3 million won?"
This appears to be a backlash against the conclusion that there was no violation regarding the suspicion of Mrs. Kim receiving a luxury handbag.
The ACRC had not responded to any inquiries until the 20th, when it began posting replies. The answer was that "if it is unrelated to official duties, the acceptance of gifts by the spouse of a public official is not restricted." This falls under an exception.
They stated, "If a spouse of a public official accepts prohibited gifts related to the official's duties, and the official knows but fails to report it, the official shall be sanctioned," but emphasized again, "However, even if there is a connection to official duties, if the case falls under the exceptions specified in Article 8, Paragraph 3 of the Act, the gift is not considered prohibited."
In contrast, a query posted in March 2022 asking, "My spouse received a luxury handbag worth over 1 million won," was answered with, "Public officials cannot receive gifts exceeding 1 million won at one time regardless of duty relation," "They must report immediately," and "They will be fined."
The ACRC closed the case regarding Mrs. Kim's luxury handbag suspicion, citing that the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act does not have sanction provisions for the President's spouse.
Following this, the Q&A board saw a series of questions such as "I want to gift a luxury bag to the First Lady," "I want to give a gift worth 3 million won to the wife of a high-ranking official," and "I plan to gift a Dior bag to the First Lady."
Park Eun-jung (left) and Cha Gyu-geun, members of the Party for National Innovation, are filing a complaint with the Gwacheon Public Corruption Investigation Office on the 19th against Kim Geon-hee regarding allegations of receiving luxury bags, accusing her of mediation bribery and abuse of authority. [Image source=Yonhap News]
In this context, the Innovation Party filed a complaint against Mrs. Kim on the 19th. They stated, "If Mrs. Kim received luxury goods as a bribe and then instructed her secretaries to review the solicitations, this constitutes bribery and abuse of power."
They also filed complaints against Yucheol Hwan, Chairman of the ACRC, and Vice Chairman Seungyun Jeong for dereliction of duty regarding the ACRC's closure of the case without finding violations by Mrs. Kim. They pointed out, "If the ACRC permits spouses of high-ranking officials to receive luxury bags from foreigners, companies might hire foreigners to freely deliver luxury bags to these spouses."
Previously, in September 2022, Mrs. Kim was suspected of requesting Pastor Choi Jaeyoung to appoint former U.S. Congressman Kim Changjoon as a national advisory committee member and to arrange burial at the National Cemetery, along with receiving a luxury handbag. She is also alleged to have instructed her secretaries to introduce officials from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in relation to this.
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