Presidential Office on Kim Geon-hee's Non-Indictment: "Clear Lack of Charges"

Presidential Office on 'Choi Jaeyoung Hidden Camera Scheme' Regulation
"Some Media Reports Contain Inaccurate Information"
"First Lady Clearly Not Charged, No Prosecution"

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee, having completed their official visit to the Czech Republic, are seen boarding Air Force One at V?clav Havel International Airport in Prague on the 21st of last month (local time), greeting as they board.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office stated that the prosecution's decision to clear Kim Geon-hee, who was suspected of receiving luxury handbags and other items, of any charges is "clearly a finding of no suspicion."

On the afternoon of the 3rd, the Presidential Office explained through a press release, "Regarding the prosecution's decision the previous day to dismiss charges in the Choi Jae-young hidden camera operation case, some media outlets have reported inaccurate information," it said.

In the announcement, the Presidential Office defined Pastor Choi Jae-young's act of handing a Dior bag to Mrs. Kim and secretly filming it as a "hidden camera operation."

The Presidential Office stated, "In the case of the First Lady, there are no applicable punishment regulations, making the finding of no suspicion clear, and initially, the Central District Prosecutors' Office reported a non-prosecution opinion to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office."

It continued, "However, to completely alleviate public concerns, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office referred the case to the Investigation Review Committee ex officio, and after reviewing Pastor Choi Jae-young's written opinion as well, the committee unanimously decided on non-prosecution."

However, it pointed out that "Pastor Choi Jae-young's case involves entirely separate legal provisions and case numbers."

The Presidential Office said, "In that case, the Investigation Review Committee recommended prosecution by a one-vote margin as a way to leave the judgment to the judiciary, but as Pastor Choi himself initially admitted, the lack of job-relatedness was reflected, resulting in a non-prosecution decision," and requested, "we ask for careful reporting based on factual circumstances."

Earlier, the prosecution cleared both Mrs. Kim and Pastor Choi of any charges the day before. This conclusion came 10 months after the internet media outlet Seoul's Voice released a secretly filmed video showing Mrs. Kim receiving luxury handbags, sparking controversy.

The prosecution judged that although Mrs. Kim received a Dior bag worth approximately 3 million won, a Chanel cosmetics set worth 1.79 million won, and liquor worth 400,000 won from Pastor Choi between June and September 2022, there was no job-relatedness or quid pro quo involved.