After the three special counsels (insurrection, Kim Keon-hee, death in the line of duty for a Marine), the second consolidated special counsel team led by Kwon Chang-young, which is investigating the remaining suspicions, said on the 25th that it booked former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min as a suspect on charges of abusing authority in connection with the transfer of the presidential residence.
The former Minister is suspected of having been involved in the illegal diversion of about 2.8 billion won from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) budget to pay construction costs to 21gram, an unqualified firm known to have ties to first lady Kim Keon-hee, during the 2022 presidential residence transfer work.
In particular, the special counsel team believes that the former Minister, under pressure from the presidential office, imposed personnel disadvantages, such as excluding them from promotion, on working-level officials who opposed the budget diversion.
Earlier, on the 22nd, the special counsel team arrested former presidential chief of staff Kim Dae-ki and former senior secretary for general affairs Yoon Jae-soon on the same charges and is focusing its investigative resources on identifying those higher up. The team plans to summon former Minister Lee Sang-min soon to press whether former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse were involved in the decision-making process at the time.