Lee Bong-gwan, the chairman of SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION, and his son-in-law, Park Seong-geun, former chief of staff to the prime minister, attended the investigation by Kim Keon-hee's special counsel regarding the 'luxury necklace delivery allegations' on the 2nd.
Chairman Lee arrived at the KT Gwanghwamun Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the special counsel's office is located, around 9:59 a.m. Earlier, the special counsel announced on the 1st that they would summon Chairman Lee for questioning starting at 10 a.m.
Chairman Lee appeared in a mask while in a wheelchair. He did not respond to reporters' questions, including whether he directly gave a necklace worth 62 million won to 'Mrs. Kim,' whether the gift of the necklace was related to a request for a position made by his son-in-law, and whether Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president, was aware of the request.
The special counsel is also summoning former chief of staff Park for investigation starting from 2 p.m. Former chief of staff Park arrived at the special counsel's office around 1:50 p.m. He did not answer reporters' questions about whether he requested the position of chief of staff and whether he was aware of Chairman Lee's request at the time of his appointment as chief of staff.
The special counsel suspects that SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION purchased a 'Van Cleef & Arpels' necklace worth around 60 million won for the purpose of solicitation and delivered it to Mrs. Kim. This necklace is the 'Snowflake Pendant' product released by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2015. The special counsel believes that SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION purchased the same model worn by Mrs. Kim during her trip to NATO with former President Yoon in June 2022 on March 9, 2022.
Former chief of staff Park, who is the son-in-law of Chairman Lee, was appointed as chief of staff to the prime minister of Yoon Suk-yeol's government in 2022. The special counsel is investigating whether SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION handed over the necklace to Mrs. Kim in exchange for receiving the position of chief of staff.
Earlier, SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION reportedly wrote in a confession submitted to the special counsel that it 'purchased the Van Cleef & Arpels necklace worth 60 million won, which was worn by Mrs. Kim at the NATO summit in June 2022, three months prior and gifted it, only to have it returned later.' SEOHEE CONSTRUCTION is also said to have acknowledged making a personnel request for former Suncheon District Prosecutor Park Seong-geun, the son-in-law of Chairman Lee, while handing over the necklace. The company reportedly submitted the genuine necklace to the special counsel along with the confession.