The special counsel investigating Kim Keon-hee said on the 29th that it is summoning and questioning Shin Ji-yeon, the wife of former presidential personnel secretary Lee Won-mo. The probe concerns Shin boarding the presidential jet as a civilian during the president's NATO tour in 2022. The special counsel also plans to investigate allegations of a slush fund worth around 9 billion won at Jaseng Bio, where Shin serves as CEO. Jaseng Bio is an affiliate of Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, and Shin is the second daughter of founder and Chairman Shin Jun-sik.
In a media notice that day, the special counsel said, "We are summoning and questioning Ms. Shin Ji-yeon, who boarded the presidential jet as a civilian, as a suspect in the morning." Shin faces allegations of embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes.
In 2022, when then-President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse traveled to Madrid, Spain, for the NATO tour, Shin joined staffers from the presidential office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on an advance trip to Madrid, and on the return she boarded the presidential jet, sparking controversy. At the time, Shin held no position in the presidential office. In connection with this, a civic group filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against former President Yoon and his spouse on charges including abuse of power. The special counsel plans to investigate the background of Shin's boarding of the presidential jet.
The special counsel was also reported to be investigating allegations that Shin created "a slush fund of around 9 billion won" at Jaseng Bio. Jaseng Bio is a health foods company selling products such as deer antler, established in 2014. From May 2020 to Apr. 2022, Jaseng Bio received a long-term loan of 9 billion won from JSD One, a family company 100% owned by Shin's family. However, in Sept. 2023, as Jaseng Bio was being liquidated, the money was written off (removed from the books on the view that the asset value had disappeared), prompting allegations of slush fund creation.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea previously raised controversy that Chairman Shin Jun-sik received special favors during the previous administration based on his ties with former President Yoon Suk-yeol. The medicinal ingredient "Harpagophytum root" (Cheonsugeun), for which Chairman Shin holds a patent, was recognized on Mar. 12 last year as a herbal medicine for the second pilot project under national health insurance. Shin's son-in-law, former secretary Lee, resigned from the presidential office in Jan. last year to run in the general election and received a strategic nomination as the People Power Party candidate for Yongin-gap, Gyeonggi. However, he was defeated in the election by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-sik.