First lady Kim Keon Hee and President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a dinner hosted by the presidential office for South Korean Olympians at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press Corps Justice minister faces grilling over decision to acquit Kim Keon Hee By Kwak Yeon-soo The ruling party and opposition camps clashed, Friday, over the prosecution’s decision to acquit first lady Kim Keon Hee of violating anti-graft laws during a meeting of the legislation and judiciary committee at the National Assembly. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has called for a special counsel investigation into Kim’s luxury handbag case.
The request follows the prosecution’s conclusion and the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission’s decision to close the case against Kim, citing the lack of a punitive clause for public officials’ spouses under the anti-graft act. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office (SCDPO), which investigated the allegation that Kim received a luxury handbag worth about 3 million won ($2,252) from a Korean American pastor named Choi Jae-young in 2022, concluded that she was not guilty of any wrongdoing. The office stated that the bag was given "not in exchange for favors" but simply "out of gratitude.
" Prosecutor General Lee One-seok remained silent on the issue, and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has yet to determine whether it will convene a prosecution investigation review committee. Choi, who made headlines for secretly filming himself handing.