Pastor Choi Jaeyoung, who gave a luxury bag to First Lady Kim Geonhee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol, requested the prosecution on the 23rd to convene an investigative review committee.
Pastor Choi Jaeyoung (center), who handed a luxury bag to First Lady Kim Geonhee, is holding a press conference on the morning of the 23rd in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, urging the convening of an investigative review committee related to the prosecution's investigation of the First Lady's luxury bag. [Photo by Yonhap News]
On the same day, Pastor Choi held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and announced that he would apply for the convening of the prosecution's investigative review committee regarding the case of First Lady Kim's receipt of a luxury bag and other gifts.
Pastor Choi stated, "The prosecution's judgment that there is no job-relatedness or that it is not a solicitation contradicts objective facts and common sense, so it is unacceptable. Although the gift is said to be a token of gratitude or a means to meet, on the other hand, it also contains the meaning of solicitation."
He added, "The stated purpose of the meeting was to consult on unification movements, inter-Korean issues, and North Korea policy, and since I even held the position of vice president of Tongil TV, job-relatedness cannot be denied. I myself clearly said it was a solicitation and testified to the prosecution that there was job-relatedness," emphasizing this point.
The prosecution's investigative review committee is a body that deliberates on whether to continue investigations, file indictments or decide on non-prosecution, and whether to request arrest warrants in cases where public suspicion arises or social attention is focused. The committee's opinions have a recommendatory effect on the investigation team.
Earlier, Baek Eun-jong, representative of Seoul Voice, requested the prosecution to convene the investigative review committee, but the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Citizens' Committee decided on the 14th to terminate the procedure, stating that Baek was not an "interested party" eligible to request the committee's convening.
The day before, Lee Chang-soo, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, reported at a regular briefing that there was no evidence of wrongdoing against First Lady Kim and Pastor Choi in the investigation of the luxury bag receipt allegations to Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok. Prosecutor General Lee can either accept the investigation team's judgment and approve the investigation results as is or convene the prosecution's investigative review committee on his own authority. When asked by reporters on his way to work whether he would convene the investigative review committee on his own authority, the Prosecutor General briefly replied, "I will tell you next time."
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