Police Accelerate Investigation into Lee Jinsook's 'Corporate Card Misuse' Allegations... Third Search Conducted

The police are accelerating their investigation into allegations that Lee Jinsook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, misused a corporate credit card for personal purposes during her tenure as president of Daejeon MBC.

Lee Jinsook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission, is attending the full meeting of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee held at the National Assembly on the 5th, responding to questions on current issues. 2025.3.5. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On June 9, the Daejeon Yuseong Police Station announced that it had recently conducted searches at several locations suspected of being used for personal spending with a corporate card during Lee's time as president of Daejeon MBC, who is under investigation for breach of trust. The police have secured materials from business establishments that can confirm card transactions and are analyzing whether the card was used for personal purposes. It was reported that Sung Sim Dang, a well-known bakery in Daejeon and one of the representative locations in question, was not included in the recent search targets.

Lee is accused of causing financial loss to the company by using a corporate credit card for personal purposes during her tenure as president of Daejeon MBC from March 2015 to January 2018. At the end of July last year, Democratic Party lawmakers who were members of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee visited Daejeon MBC for an on-site inspection and subsequently filed a police complaint against Lee.

Civic groups, including the National Union of Media Workers and the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media, also filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee on July 31 last year, alleging that "Lee spent 142.79 million won with the corporate card" and claiming that "there is strong evidence that the card was frequently used for personal purposes, such as at luxury hotels, expensive restaurants, and entertainment venues on weekends and holidays."

In January of this year, the police launched a compulsory investigation and conducted searches at two locations: Daejeon MBC and the administrative office of the Graduate School of Mass Communication at Sogang University. Lee had enrolled at the Sogang University graduate school while serving as president of Daejeon MBC. After completing three rounds of searches and witness interviews, the police are currently coordinating a schedule for Lee to appear for questioning.

During her confirmation hearing last year, Lee denied the allegations of corporate card misuse, which became a point of contention, stating, "I used the card within the given limit and in accordance with internal regulations, and the detailed documentation was handled by staff."