The prosecution said Monday it has suspended indictment of South Korean actor and former Environment Minister Son Sook, who is under suspicion of accepting golf club gifts between 2018 and 2021 while she was in public service.
Citing her age of 79 and the relatively small value of the gift she received, worth over 1 million won ($760), the prosecution said it would not indict her. Indictment of Lee Hee-beom, the current chairman of Booyoung Group and former trade, industry and energy minister, who is also suspected of receiving golf club as gift, will be also delayed. Lee, 74, admitted to reciprocating the gift with an export recommendation letter.
Son, best known for her lead role in the play "Mother," served briefly as the environment minister in 1999. She served on the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival Committee in 2010 and directed the state-run Seoul Arts Center from 2018 to 2021.
"I received the golf clubs because a vendor official asked me to visit their store, saying they were a fan of mine," Son said, asserting unawareness of her applicability in anti-graft law.
Her case had been sent to the prosecution along with Booyoung's Chairman Lee and six other former ministers, university professors and journalists.
This is not Son's first brush with controversy. During her stint as environment minister in 1999, she received $20,000 from a business federation when she was starring in a theatrical production of “Mother" in Russia. She was dismissed just a month after her appointment.
The Anti-Graft Act, which prohibits public officials from accepting any gifts whose value exceed 1 million won at any one time, or 3 million won per fiscal year, could see violators imprisoned for up to three years or fined up to 30 million won.
