The Kim Keon-hee special counsel team (special counsel Min Joong-ki) will bring People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun and his spouse to trial.
According to legal sources on the 27th, the special counsel team, a day before ending its investigation, indicted Kim and a person surnamed Lee, his spouse, without detention on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
The two are accused of providing one Roger Vivier clutch bag worth 2.67 million won to the first lady on Mar. 17 of the same year in return for Kim being elected at the People Power Party convention in 2023.
On the 6th of last month, the special counsel team seized two Roger Vivier bags at ACRO Vista in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the residence of Kim Keon-hee, and was said to have secured a purchase history sheet bearing Lee's name.
In particular, a card was also reportedly found at the scene that was presumed to have been written by Lee, conveying the message, "Thank you for helping lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun win the party leadership."
The special counsel team believes former President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee initially sought to support People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong for party leader but switched their backing to Kim, and offered the bag in return.
Earlier, on the 17th, the special counsel team searched the National Assembly Secretariat and Kim's residence, among other locations, and on the 22nd of this month questioned Kim as a suspect in violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. On the 5th and again on this day, the team questioned Lee.
The special counsel said, "This is a power-related corruption case in which the leader of a major political party provided a luxury bag to the president's spouse in return for being elected," adding, "We confirmed indications of the president's interference in the ruling party's leadership primary."
The Kim Keon-hee special counsel team also decided to bring to trial Chair Yang Nam-hee, implicated in the alleged stock manipulation of Well Biotec, and former SAMBU Construction Vice Chair Lee Gi-hoon.
They are accused of distributing a false press release claiming that Well Biotec would take part in Ukraine reconstruction and raw lithium ore import businesses, then selling after pushing up the stock price to reap illicit gains worth 21.5 billion won.
Meanwhile, as the investigation period ends on the 28th, the special counsel team plans to transfer the bribery case involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee to the National Office of Investigation (NOI) for further investigation.