Investigation Review Committee Recommends 'No Prosecution' for Kim Gun-hee on Improper Solicitation Act, Attorney Act Violations, and Mediation Fee Charges

President Lee Won-seok Likely to Be Non-Prosecuted Before Retirement

The Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee (hereinafter referred to as the PIDC), which reviewed the allegations of 'luxury bag acceptance' involving Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of President Yoon Seok-yeol, resolved on the 6th to recommend non-prosecution on all charges including violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, the Attorney-at-Law Act, and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes concerning bribery through mediation.

On the same day, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced, "The PIDC deliberated on whether to indict or not indict the suspect Kim Geon-hee for violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (including violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, bribery, abuse of authority, and evidence destruction), and also on whether to indict or not indict for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery through mediation) and the Attorney-at-Law Act related to the case. As a result, the committee resolved to recommend non-prosecution on all charges, including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery through mediation) and the Attorney-at-Law Act."

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

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office stated, "The PIDC decided to review the opinion letter submitted by Choi Jae-young together and comprehensively deliberated on the opinions of the investigation team and the defense counsel," adding, "We hereby announce this in accordance with the resolution of the Prosecutorial Investigation Deliberation Committee."

The PIDC held a closed-door urgent committee meeting from around 2 p.m. at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to deliberate on whether to prosecute Kim Geon-hee.

The urgent committee members reviewed 30 pages of opinion letters submitted separately by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team and Kim Geon-hee's defense counsel, listened to statements, and began full deliberations around 5:30 p.m. After approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes of discussion, they resolved to recommend non-prosecution on all charges against Kim Geon-hee.

The urgent committee was composed of 15 members randomly selected from PIDC members, who are experts from various fields including the legal community, academia, media, and civic groups.

The subject of deliberation was whether Kim Geon-hee should be indicted for receiving a Dior bag, a Chanel cosmetics set, and other gifts from Pastor Choi Jae-young, on charges including violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Initially, the issue centered on whether Kim Geon-hee violated the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, but the PIDC also reviewed six charges including bribery through mediation, violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act, bribery, abuse of authority, and evidence destruction.

The entire investigation team, including Kim Seung-ho, head prosecutor of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office who investigated the luxury bag acceptance allegations against Kim Geon-hee, attended the deliberation.

The investigation team prepared a PowerPoint presentation explaining in detail the grounds for judging that the Dior bag and other items received by Kim Geon-hee had no relation to President Yoon's official duties and thus were not bribes but rather 'congratulatory gifts for inauguration' or 'means for meetings.'

The urgent committee members reportedly focused their questions and deliberations particularly on the charges of violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, bribery through mediation, and violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act among the six charges.

Kim Geon-hee's side emphasized that the gifts received from Pastor Choi had no connection to official duties or quid pro quo.

They cited as evidence that Pastor Choi repeatedly stated the gifts were not intended as solicitations, that the issue of former U.S. Congressman Kim Chang-jun’s burial at the National Cemetery was not conveyed to Kim Geon-hee, and that at the time of receiving the bag, there was no ongoing issue regarding the suspension of Unification TV broadcasts.

Kim Geon-hee's attorney, Choi Ji-woo, attended the deliberation and told reporters afterward, "The urgent committee members mainly asked questions to verify the facts," adding, "(Kim Geon-hee) rejected all of Pastor Choi’s improper demands, and explained that Jo, an administrative officer at the Presidential Office who was asked to resume Unification TV broadcasts, firmly refused, saying he had no authority to do so."

After the deliberation and resolution, the urgent committee drafts the PIDC’s opinion report. Then, the staff in charge of the urgent committee sends a copy of the opinion report to the chief prosecutor, who must attach it to the case records.

Article 19 of the PIDC Operating Guidelines (Effect of Deliberation) states that "the chief prosecutor must respect the opinion of the urgent committee." In other words, the PIDC’s conclusions are not binding on prosecutors and are only advisory.

In fact, among the 15 PIDC meetings held so far, 12 results have been made public, and in 8 of those 12 cases, the prosecution’s decision differed from the PIDC’s opinion.

However, in this case, since the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team and the PIDC share the same opinion, it is expected that a non-prosecution decision regarding Kim Geon-hee will be made next week before Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok retires.

Immediately after the PIDC’s deliberation results were announced, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "The entire Criminal Division 1 investigation team, including the head prosecutor, appeared before the PIDC and faithfully explained the investigation results to the committee members," adding, "The investigation team reached a unanimous conclusion based solely on evidence and legal principles without any other considerations, and fully explained the issues and legal grounds related to the reported violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, bribery, as well as bribery through mediation and violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act."

They further added, "The investigation team plans to make the final disposition of the case by referring to the PIDC’s decision and discussions."