Senior former presidential office officials accused of illegally diverting funds during the transfer of the presidential residence shortly after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration have been arrested. The court recognized the need to detain former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-gi and former Senior Secretary for General Affairs Yoon Jae-soon. A warrant to detain former Management Secretary Kim Oh-jin was rejected.
On the 22nd, Presiding Judge for Warrants Budong-sik of the Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for former Deputy Minister Kim and former secretary Yoon after conducting a pretrial detention hearing (warrant review) for former Deputy Minister Kim, former secretary Yoon, and former secretary Kim. This is the first time since the second special counsel team was launched in Feb. that it has secured a suspect in custody.
Former secretary Kim avoided detention. The court rejected the arrest warrant, saying, "Given factors such as acknowledgment of key facts and compliance with bail conditions, it is hard to see a risk of flight or evidence destruction."
Former Deputy Minister Kim and others are suspected of diverting about 2.8 billion won from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety budget that was not directly related to residence duties during the 2022 construction for the transfer of the presidential residence. The special counsel believes they tapped the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) Government Complex Management Headquarters budget to pay construction costs to 21gram, an unqualified firm. The alleged charge is abuse of power to obstruct the exercise of rights.
Initially, former President Yoon Suk-yeol's side said the total expense for the presidential office and residence transfer was about 49.6 billion won. Of that, the residence transfer, namely the official residence remodeling expense, was tallied at about 2.5 billion won, and the budget for the residence interior was around 1.44 billion won. However, it was found that the estimate submitted by 21gram, which actually handled the work, listed the interior expense at about 4.12 billion won.
The issue is how the budget increased and the presidential office's decision-making to cover it. The special counsel suspects that even though the residence interior expense nearly tripled from the original budget, the presidential office proceeded with the work without separate vetting or adjustment procedures, and illegally diverted Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) funds to make up for the shortfall. It is also looking into the fact that documents required in the contracting process, such as contracts and blueprints, were not properly submitted.
In the course of investigating related ministries, the special counsel is said to have also secured indications that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) prepared a report to the effect that "it is difficult to create additional reserve funds" and "the Presidential Secretariat is instructing." In addition, after analyzing accounts of companies involved in the project, it reportedly detected indications that the second-phase construction payment received by Wondam General Construction, which holds a general construction license, was passed on to 21gram CEO Gen.Kim Tae-young's side.
On the 19th, the special counsel said it had confirmed that, "despite pushback from related ministries, MOIS Government Complex Management Headquarters funds unrelated to the presidential residence were illegally diverted under the suspects' instructions," and sought arrest warrants for former Deputy Minister Kim and others.
With the arrests of former Deputy Minister Kim and former secretary Yoon, the investigation is expected to expand into how the residence transfer budget was executed and how contractors were selected. The special counsel also plans to verify whether figures higher up the chain, including first lady Kim Keon-hee, were involved and where the construction funds ultimately flowed. The special counsel said, "To dispel public suspicion, we will adhere to due process while doing our utmost to identify the endpoint of any gains from illegal acts that occurred in the course of the residence transfer."