It was reported on the 5th that the prosecution had assigned three prosecutors under the 4th Deputy Chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office in charge of special investigations to the department investigating “suspicion of receiving luxury bags” from part of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s wife, Kim Kun-hee.
It is said that on the 2nd, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office assigned a total of three people, one prosecutor each from the 3 Anti-Corruption Investigation Department, the Fair Trade Investigation Department and the Proceeds Recovery Department crime under the 4th Deputy Prosecutor, Criminal Department 1 (Chief Seung-ho Kim). This is in response to Attorney General Lee Won-seok’s order to the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, Song Kyung-ho, on the 2nd, to “set up a dedicated investigation team for the Anti-Virus Law Reporting Case” -corruption involving Ms. Kim and to conduct a prompt investigation.” and a thorough investigation based on evidence and legal principles to clearly determine the truth.”
First Lady Kim Kun-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol, steps out of her car at Seoul Airport to attend the 78th high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly in September last year. /News 1
The departments under the 4th Deputy Director are mainly responsible for difficult cases such as power-related corruption and bribery cases.
Ms. Kim received a Dior bag worth 3 million won from Korean-American Pastor Choi Jae-young in September 2022. At that time, Pastor Choi filmed himself handing the bag to Ms. Kim using a connected hidden camera on his watch, and the video was posted on YouTube “Voice of Seoul” on November 27 last year. Voice of Seoul and others reported President Yoon and his wife to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office and the Corruption Investigation Bureau in December last year for violating the anti-corruption law.
According to the current anti-corruption law, the spouse of a public official cannot receive money or valuables exceeding 1 million won at a time or 3 million won per year in connection with the public official’s duties. If President Yoon knew of Ms. Kim’s corruption and did not report it, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison or fined up to 30 million won for violating the anti-corruption law. However, it must be proven that the luxury bag received by Ms. Kim is related to President Yoon’s duties.
The prosecution was supposed to summon the accuser, Baek Eun-jong, head of the Seoul Voice of Korea, and others for questioning, but Baek reportedly asked that the subpoena be postponed. The Citizens’ Livelihood Countermeasures Committee, a civic group that has accused Pastor Jae-Young Choi of trespassing and obstructing the performance of official duties, is expected to launch an investigation into the accuser on the same day.
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