After investigating allegations related to Kim Keon-hee for 180 days, the special counsel on Kim Keon-hee said on the 29th that it confirmed that the president's spouse illegally intervened in state affairs "behind a curtain beyond the public's gaze." Announcing its final findings that day, the special counsel said it indicted Kim on charges of bribery mediation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Deputy special counsel Kim Hyung-keun said the president's spouse "habitually engaged in a 'modern-day sale of offices' worthy of a history book." The special counsel said it confirmed during the investigation that Kim received money and valuables totaling 377.25 million won from Han Hak-ja, president of the Unification Church; former global headquarters head Yoon Young-ho; Seohee Construction Co. Chairman Lee Bong-gwan; robot dog entrepreneur Seo Sung-bin; former Director General prosecutor Kim Sang-min; and the People Power Party's Kim Gi-hyeon and his spouse.
The special counsel said it believes Kim used her position backed by the president's power to seek private gain in connection with various solicitations. Deputy special counsel Kim said it was "hard to easily believe" former President Yoon Suk-yeol's denial that he "did not know at all about the spouse's continuous and repeated receipt of money and valuables."
However, the special counsel judged that "at this stage, there is not enough direct evidence to conclude that the former president knew about it," and said it "inevitably applied only the charge of bribery mediation to the spouse and indicted her." It said additional investigation is needed on whether to apply bribery charges to the former president and Kim, and it transferred the case to the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation (NOI).
The special counsel also raised the need to supplement laws and systems. Deputy special counsel Kim said, "We regret that due to the limits of existing laws, appropriate punishment is significantly lacking," and said legislative supplementation should be considered to include a president-elect as a "public official, etc." under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The intent is to allow strict punishment of a first lady's receipt of money and valuables in line with public officials.
The special counsel defined the former president and Kim as a "political community" and said collusion was revealed in political interests such as nominations. Deputy special counsel Oh Jeong-hee, who led the investigation into the Myeong Tae-gyun allegations, said Kim played a leading role from the stage when the former president entered politics and, even after the presidential election victory, actively intervened in nominations, making it "clear they have operated as a political community." However, it said legislative tasks remain because a president-elect is not defined as a public official under the relevant law and thus could not be indicted.
Deputy special counsel Park Sang-jin, who led the probe into the Geonjin and Unification Church solicitation allegations, criticized it as the result of the Unification Church leader's "desire for unity of religion and state" combining with moral hazard around power and brokers' pursuit of interests.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki said, "We confirmed in multiple cases that the public system was greatly undermined by the president's spouse's abuse of authority," adding, "The investigation is over, but we will ensure there is no negligence in maintaining the prosecution."
The special counsel also said that in relation to the allegations of preferential treatment in the presidential residence transfer, it confirmed indications that Kim improperly intervened in state contract matters such as the transfer of the presidential residence through People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Han-hong as a conduit. However, the special counsel did not indict Yoon and said it decided to request an investigation by the Korean National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation (NOI) into indications of involvement by higher-ups. An official from the special counsel team, referring to the circumstances of Yoon's involvement, mentioned the difficulty of having to use the expression senior official on the transition committee and cited a lack of investigation time.
The core allegation is that 21Gram, which does not have a general construction license, won no-bid contracts for the presidential office and residence transfer and expansion construction after former President Yoon Suk-yeol took office. 21Gram was suspected of being influenced by Kim due to its sponsorship of a Covana Contents exhibition and its history of designing and building an office, and how the construction contractor changed to 21Gram around May 2022 became a key issue. The special counsel indicted without detention former Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Vice Minister Kim Oh-jin, who was head of Subcommittee 1 of the Presidential Office Transfer Task Force, and former Presidential Secretariat administrative officer Hwang, a task force staffer, and indicted without detention 21Gram CEO Kim Tae-young.