The prosecution on Wednesday closed its high-profile case concerning the first lady's alleged acceptance of a luxury handbag caught on a hidden camera, despite the outcry of the opposition parties, accusing the law enforcement agency of surrendering to power.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced Wednesday that it will not charge the giver nor the taker of the expensive gifts amounting to 5 million won ($3,800) combined, including a Christian Dior handbag valued at 3 million won, as well as the spouse of the taker who is a public official -- President Yoon Suk Yeol -- closing its case on the allegations that have been rattling South Korean politics since late last year.
The prosecution said it has found that the president and his wife had neither violated the antigraft nor antibribery laws, given that the gifts offered to the first lady had nothing to do with the president's duty.
Also, the current antigraft law fails to identify what kind of punishment the public official's spouse would be subject to, and thereby renders Kim unpunishable, the prosecution stated.
The prosecution also found that Choi Jae-young, the Korean American pastor accused of giving gifts to a public official's spouse in connection with the official's duties, offered the gift to "build a friendship with Kim" rather than to influence Yoon's duties. The same was true for the other two figures, employees of local news outlet Voice of Seoul that revealed the secretly filmed footage in November 2023, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution already dropped Kim's charges earlier in August but has been reviewing the case at request of the accuser, pastor Choi. The case was discussed by the top prosecution body's outside panel which recommended that Kim not be indicted and that Choi stand trial.
Choi in December 2023 accused Kim of obtaining the luxury bag. Yoon admitted Kim's misconduct in an interview with KBS in February and later apologized for Kim's acceptance of the gift in a news conference in May.
Wednesday's decision triggered a backlash from Yoon's political opponents.
Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, said the decision is proof that a special counsel is the only option to restore justice.
He also said the prosecution in South Korea is politically motivated and prioritizes the defense of those in power over justice.
"Kim received a luxury bag as a gift, meddled in state affairs and intervened in the political party's candidate nomination process for the general election, but she is not indicted, much less punished," said the three-term lawmaker. "Yoon and the prosecution today denied (democracy) and declared the era of Kim's kingdom."
Rep. Han Min-soo, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, also said South Korea "can no longer leave the matter of Kim's investigation in the hands of the prosecution."
"Is Kim (Keon Hee) more feared than the people, who are the true owners of South Korea?"
Yoon on the same day vetoed three bills -- two of which target his wife Kim and potentially himself, respectively -- bringing the total number of bills he has vetoed to 24 since his term started in May 2022.
One of the bills Yoon vetoed called for a probe by an independent counsel into Kim, who faces allegations of involvement in a stock market manipulation scheme, violating antigraft law and interfering in the ruling party nomination process for the April 10 general election. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a majority of seats at the National Assembly, pushed through the bill again in September, amid a ruling party boycott.
A similar bill that Yoon had vetoed in January was struck down in February following a revote. Bills the president has vetoed automatically get sent back to the parliament for a revote, which requires at least 200 votes in the 300-member National Assembly in order to become law.
For another special counsel bill potentially zeroing in on Yoon's alleged interference in the internal probe into the death of Marine conscript Cpl. Chae Su-geun, 20, in July 2023, Yoon had vetoed two similar bills in May and July, respectively. Both bills failed to meet the 200-vote threshold within weeks after Yoon exercised his veto right on them.
With 24 bills vetoed so far, Yoon has already become the South Korean president with the second-highest number of vetoed bills ever. Before South Korea's decadeslong military junta relented to direct democratic presidential elections and political reforms, former President Syngman Rhee, who served as the South Korean president from 1948 to 1960, vetoed bills 45 times.
