Prosecutors Conclude No Charges in 'Kim Geon-hee Luxury Bag' Case... Report to Chief Prosecutor Lee Won-seok Expected on 22nd

'No Job Relevance' Conclusion
Only 4 Months After Dedicated Investigation Team Formed
Low Possibility of Prosecutor's Investigation Deliberation Committee Convening

It was reported on the 21st that the prosecution, which has been investigating the allegations of luxury bag receipt involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, has concluded the case with no charges.

After a report to Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, a final decision of non-prosecution against Mrs. Kim is expected to be issued soon.

First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol. [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the day, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho), which has been investigating the case of allegations including violation of the Anti-Graft Act against Mrs. Kim, recently reported to Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, that Mrs. Kim's charges were not recognized. This came about four months after Prosecutor General Lee ordered the formation of a dedicated investigation team.

The investigation team judged that the luxury bag Mrs. Kim received in September 2022 from Pastor Choi Jae-young was unrelated to President Yoon's official duties, leading to this conclusion.

Considering the personal relationship between Pastor Choi and Mrs. Kim, the route of the request involving former U.S. Congressman Kim Chang-jun’s burial at the National Cemetery, it appears that the gift was exchanged as a token of gratitude in a personal relationship rather than as a bribe.

Under the Anti-Graft Act, the spouse of a public official is prohibited from receiving money or valuables related to the official’s duties. However, there is only a prohibition clause, and no penalty clause for violations.

Even if the spouse is not punished, the public official can be penalized for failure to report. Since the reporting obligation applies only when the spouse receives a 'prohibited gift,' if the 'duty-relatedness' of Mrs. Kim’s receipt of the luxury bag is not recognized, President Yoon’s failure to report does not hold.

The investigation team, formed under Prosecutor General Lee’s directive on May 2, completed investigations of Mrs. Kim, presidential office administrators, Pastor Choi, and other related parties, and after voluntarily receiving the luxury bag from the presidential office and verifying its identity with the bag in the video filmed by Pastor Choi, reached this conclusion.

Prosecutor Lee Chang-soo is expected to report the investigation results to Prosecutor General Lee in person soon. It is anticipated that the report will be made on the 22nd during the regular weekly briefing at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

Meanwhile, Pastor Choi has expressed his intention to request the convening of an investigative review committee at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 23rd regarding this case. Earlier, Baek Eun-jong, head of Seoul Voice, applied for the convening of the review committee, but the request was rejected on the grounds that the accuser did not have the qualification to apply, prompting Pastor Choi to take direct action.

There remains a possibility that Prosecutor General Lee will convene the investigative review committee ex officio. However, since Prosecutor General Lee’s term expires on the 15th of next month, it is widely expected that the prosecution will conclude the case without convening the committee. As the prosecution closes the luxury bag case, there is also interest in whether a final decision will be made against Mrs. Kim regarding the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case.