[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyun-jae ] Prosecutors have filed additional charges against former President Yoon Suk-yeol, alleging that he failed to fulfill his duty to report the fact that Kim Keon-hee had received a luxury handbag, even though he was aware of it. However, they cleared him of allegations that he made false statements regarding Ms. Kim’s stock trading in DEUTSCH MOTORS INC.(067990) while he was a presidential candidate.
On the 17th, the 3rd Anti-Corruption Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Jin-yong) indicted former President Yoon Suk-yeol without detention on charges of violating the Anti-Graft Act by failing to fulfill his reporting obligation despite knowing that First Lady Kim Keon-hee had received a luxury handbag. Previously, in October 2024, the 1st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (then headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) dismissed the case against former President Yoon, who had been accused of violating the Anti-Graft Act and other charges.
Ms. Kim Keon-hee was reported to the authorities by a civic group after a video was released in November 2023 showing her receiving a Dior luxury handbag worth 3 million won from Pastor Choi Jae-young. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into Ms. Kim’s alleged violation of the Anti-Graft Act, and in July of the following year, prosecutors decided not to indict her after questioning her once at a third-party location rather than at the prosecutors’ office.
During the investigation by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Kim Geon-hee—which was launched following former President Yoon’s December 3 state of emergency—messages were uncovered showing that Ms. Kim had contacted former Justice Minister Park Seong-jae around May 2024 to inquire about the formation of a dedicated investigation team and the status of the probe. The Special Prosecutor’s Office reopened the investigation, and the police, who took over the case, referred it to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment last June.
After comprehensively reexamining factors such as the court testimony of Pastor Choi Jae-young, who provided the bag, and the fact that the court in Kim Keon-hee’s brokerage bribery case recognized the connection to her official duties, the prosecution determined that Ms. Kim—as the spouse of former President Yoon—receiving the luxury handbag constituted a violation of the Anti-Graft Act due to its connection to her official duties. The prosecution further stated that it had indicted former President Yoon without detention after determining that he was aware of the receipt of the bag but failed to fulfill his reporting obligation under the Anti-Graft Act.
However, the prosecution determined that there were no grounds for charges regarding former President Yoon’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Public Investigation Division 2 (headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-won) dismissed the case on the same day, in which former President Yoon had been referred on charges of making false statements regarding DEUTSCH MOTORS INC. stock transactions while he was a presidential candidate.
Former President Yoon was accused of publicly disseminating false information regarding First Lady Kim’s stock trading—specifically, stating during the People Power Party’s presidential primary and presidential debates from October 2021 to February 2022, while he was a presidential candidate, that he had “entrusted stock trading to a specific individual, suffered losses, and severed ties.”
Regarding the decision to dismiss the charges, the prosecution explained that it took into account the fact that the remarks primarily concerned stock transactions involving DEUTSCH MOTORS INC. from January to May 2010—rather than those occurring after October 2010, when Mrs. Kim was convicted of stock price manipulation in the appellate trial of her Capital Markets Act violation case—and thus pertained to different matters.
They added, “Most of these events occurred before the suspect (former President Yoon) was married, and there is insufficient evidence that they constitute facts the suspect personally experienced or that he verified through relevant materials.”
