South Korean prosecutors are set to clear the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol of any criminal charge over her receiving a luxury handbag under questionable circumstances, a report said, winding up a probe into a case that has rocked politics.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has concluded there is no direct link between Yoon’s duties and First Lady Kim Keon Hee receiving the bag that was purchased for 3 million won ($2,250). They found no evidence favors were offered in return to the individual, a pastor, who gave her the bag, Yonhap News reported, citing sources it did not identify.
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The Seoul prosecutors’ office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The office typically does not offer public statements on its investigations. The probe team is expected to report its investigation results to the top prosecutor in the coming days, Yonhap said.
The investigation opened in May after a secretly recorded video of Kim being gifted the bag surfaced. The handbag encounter in late 2022 touched off a political firestorm when the video came to light early this year, with Yoon’s political opponents accusing Kim of corruption.
Kim was questioned for about 12 hours in July, putting a spotlight back on the incident that had dented support for the government. It was also the first time a sitting First Lady had been summoned for questioning as part of a probe into her conduct.
Yoon and Kim have denied any wrongdoing and the president apologized in May for causing concern to the public for his wife’s “unwise behavior.”
The opposition Democratic Party criticized the prosecution. “We need to reveal the truth with a special counsel probe,” party lawmaker Jo Seounglae said in a statement.
The bag appears set to become part of national property, with it either being auctioned off for cash that will go to the treasury or being stored as a part of the presidential records for the Yoon government, according to the JoongAng newspaper.
