Police investigating allegations of abuse of power that arose during the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission's process of closing the case over first lady Kim Keon-hee's alleged acceptance of a luxury bag have launched a search and seizure.
The Korean National Police Agency's special investigation headquarters for the three special counsel transfer cases said on the 20th that it is conducting search and seizures in connection with charges including abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights by former commission Chair Yu Chul-hwan and former Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) Vice Chair Jeong Seung-yoon.
Starting at 11 a.m. that day, the special investigation headquarters has been executing search warrants at the ACRC chair's office and vice chair's office in Sejong. The special investigation headquarters also searched the former vice chair's residence on the 16th.
In 2024, the ACRC closed the case involving allegations that Kim accepted a luxury bag. It cited reasons such as no relevance to the president's official duties, and that even if there were relevance, valuables received by the president's spouse are managed as presidential records and therefore are not subject to reporting requirements.
Afterward, the ACRC normalization task force (TF) referred the case to the National Office of Investigation (NOI), saying there were procedural problems in how the case was handled. Police have combined the related cases transferred from the special counsel with the ACRC's referral and are currently investigating.