All 5 Persons Involved in Mrs. Kim's Luxury Bag Bribery Allegation Not Indicted
The prosecution decided not to indict all five individuals involved in the luxury bag receipt allegations related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee: President Yoon Seok-yeol, First Lady Kim Keon-hee, Pastor Choi Jae-young, reporter Lee Myung-soo of Seoul Voice, and Baek Eun-jong, representative of Seoul Voice.
On the 2nd, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) announced this decision regarding the 'case of violation of the Anti-Graft Act against the presidential couple.' The prosecution stated, "After thoroughly reviewing whether criminal responsibility could be imposed on the accused based solely on evidence and legal principles without any other considerations, the entire investigation team unanimously concluded that prosecution was not possible." The prosecution emphasized that over the past five months, they secured objective evidence such as First Lady Kim's KakaoTalk messages, recorded phone calls exchanged between Pastor Choi and administrative officers of the Presidential Office, and luxury bags, and investigated the related parties.
First, regarding First Lady Kim, the charge of 'violation of the Anti-Graft Act' was concluded as no charges. The Anti-Graft Act prohibits spouses of public officials from receiving items related to official duties, but since there is no penalty provision for violations, prosecution was deemed impossible.
The same conclusion was reached for President Yoon Seok-yeol. The prosecution's position is that it was not recognized that First Lady Kim received items 'in relation to the President's official duties.' The prosecution viewed that "there is no friendship or official duty connection between the President and Pastor Choi, and it is reasonable to see the relationship as a means to maintain a friendly relationship or to gain opportunities for meetings with First Lady Kim." In this regard, they cited ▲the personal friendship between First Lady Kim and Pastor Choi ▲the circumstances of gift receipt ▲the one-time and ambiguous nature of the request ▲the relevance between the gift and the request ▲the parties' awareness of official duty relevance ▲the time interval ▲and legal principles regarding official duty relevance.
Accordingly, the prosecution judged that the accused First Lady Kim is not a public official and thus cannot be subject to bribery charges, and there is no evidence that President Yoon conspired in the receipt of items by First Lady Kim.
The prosecution stated, "In a situation where no quid pro quo is recognized between the receipt of items and the 'official duties of the President and other public officials,' it is difficult to see a quid pro quo relationship regarding 'mediation,' and there was no intention or awareness of mediation on specific issues between the parties, so charges of mediation receipt and violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act against First Lady Kim do not apply."
Pastor Choi Jaeyoung, who secretly filmed a video while handing a luxury bag to First Lady Kim Geonhee, is appearing at the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul on the 13th for questioning. Photo by Kang Jinhyung aymsdream@
Regarding the destruction of evidence related to the luxury bag, the conclusion was also 'no charges.' The crime of evidence destruction requires destroying evidence related to another person's criminal case, but the bag in question was voluntarily submitted as evidence while being stored by the Presidential Office for consideration as a presidential record. Concerning Pastor Choi's claim of 'intervention in Financial Services Commission personnel,' the prosecution stated, "The perpetrator of abuse of authority is a public official, but the accused is not a public official, so the elements of the offense are not met." They also mentioned, "There is no evidence that First Lady Kim intervened in personnel matters."
Regarding Pastor Choi's violation of the Anti-Graft Act, it was explained that "the bag was merely a means to maintain a friendly relationship and create opportunities for meetings, so it is difficult to see it as provided 'in relation to the President's official duties,' and thus the violation of the Anti-Graft Act does not apply." Regarding Pastor Choi's alleged trespassing and obstruction of official duties by deception, it was explained that since entry was coordinated with First Lady Kim's side and passed through inspection, there was no problematic part, and the failure to discover a hidden camera was due to insufficient inspection, so it does not constitute obstruction of official duties by deception.
Defamation charges against Pastor Choi and representative Baek were also judged not to be crimes. The prosecution said, "The President's spouse is a public figure, and the act of receiving the bag is a matter of public interest to the people, so the act of releasing the video footage is considered to be for the public interest, which negates illegality."
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