The second joint special counsel team, which is currently investigating the remaining cases of the three special counsels (insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, death in the line of duty of a marine), is understood to have obtained an internal report showing that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reviewed ways to secure a budget for the presidential residence transfer at the request of the presidential office.
On the 4th, the special counsel said in a media notice that the second team "secured objective materials indicating that, in relation to the residence transfer, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and others unlawfully used funds, and that the presidential secretariat was involved in the process."
The report is said to state that the presidential secretariat asked the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) to arrange a budget at a time when it was difficult for the ministry to secure additional reserve funds.
The special counsel also said that, accordingly, former presidential chief of staff Kim Dae-gi and others were booked on charges of abuse of authority, and that searches and seizures were conducted at their residences and other locations.
Kim, the former chief of staff, is accused of unauthorizedly diverting reserve funds from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and other ministries for the 2022 presidential residence transfer construction.
However, the special counsel said it could not disclose specifics such as the size of the unlawful budget because the matter is currently investigating.
Earlier, on the 7th of last month, the special counsel imposed an overseas travel ban on Kim, the former chief of staff, and carried out searches and seizures at Kim's home and at the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) government complex.