The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, investigating various allegations involving former first lady Kim Keon-hee, conducted a seizure and search on the 17th at the home and office of People Power Party Representative Kim Gi-hyeon. The special counsel suspects that Kim Keon-hee exerted influence to ensure Kim Gi-hyeon’s victory in the People Power Party leadership election on March 8, 2023, and that Kim Gi-hyeon and his spouse, Lee Mo, gifted a Roger Vivier handbag—a French luxury brand—as a form of compensation.
The special counsel dispatched investigators to Kim’s residence in Seoul’s Seongdong-gu and his parliamentary office early that day to carry out the seizure and search. They also searched the National Assembly Secretariat’s Legislative Security Office to obtain vehicle entry records for Kim’s office.
Lee Mo is accused of delivering the Roger Vivier handbag to Kim Keon-hee after Kim Gi-hyeon won the party leadership election on March 8, 2023. The special counsel identified the handbag’s price as 2,670,000 Korean won based on Lee’s purchase history and listed Kim Gi-hyeon and Lee as accomplices in violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act in the seizure warrant.
The special counsel seized one mobile phone each from Kim Gi-hyeon and his spouse during the search of Kim’s residence. They reportedly obtained records from the National Assembly Secretariat’s Legislative Security Office showing Lee’s vehicle entered Kim’s office on March 17, 2023. The special counsel determined that Lee purchased the handbag on March 16, 2023, and delivered it to Kim Keon-hee the following day, March 17, 2023—the day former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse returned to South Korea after a one-night, two-day visit to Japan. Kim Gi-hyeon greeted the former president’s couple at Seongnam Seoul Airport in Gyeonggi Province that day.
However, Kim’s lawyer, Yoon Yong-geun, stated that the special counsel found nothing during the search of Kim’s parliamentary office. After the search concluded, Yoon told reporters, “The special counsel even searched employees’ computers but found nothing and left after stamping the confirmation document.” A document stamped by the special counsel’s investigation team, released by Yoon, read, “This certifies that no evidence or confiscated items were found during the search of Representative Kim Gi-hyeon’s parliamentary office in connection with the investigation into the alleged violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act by the suspect Kim Gi-hyeon and others.”
On the 6th of last month, the special counsel secured the Roger Vivier handbag allegedly gifted by Lee during a seizure and search of Acro Vista in Seoul’s Seocho-gu, where former President Yoon and his spouse resided. Alongside the handbag, they found a note dated March 17, 2023, with a message presumed to be written by Lee: “Thank you for helping Representative Kim Gi-hyeon win the party leadership election.”
The special counsel suspects that Kim Gi-hyeon’s side delivered the handbag as a reward for Kim Keon-hee’s support during the leadership election. They believe that ahead of the March 2023 party convention, Kim Keon-hee requested support for the convention through the Unification Church by having members join the party via Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman widely known as Geonjin. When Kweon Seong-dong, the originally backed candidate, withdrew, Kim Gi-hyeon was promoted as the alternative.
Kim’s side explained, “As my spouse is a homemaker, she used my card,” and added, “Kim Gi-hyeon was unaware that his spouse had gifted the handbag to Kim Keon-hee.” In a statement released to the media on the 8th, Kim acknowledged, “My wife gifted one handbag to Kim Keon-hee after I was elected party leader during the People Power Party convention in March 2023,” but insisted, “As the spouse of the newly elected party leader, my wife gifted it out of social courtesy to the president’s spouse and enclosed a simple note of goodwill—it was not a solicitation gift.”
The special counsel plans to request Kim Gi-hyeon’s attendance on the 18th. They announced, “We set the 16th as the attendance date and mailed a summons to Kim, but it was undelivered due to the recipient’s absence. Neither Kim nor his aides received any notification from us until yesterday, and Kim stated at the seizure site today that he had no intention of complying with the summons.” They added, “As investigating Kim is essential to verify the materials secured during today’s seizure, we will formally request his reappearance tomorrow.” The special counsel previously summoned Lee on the 5th as a suspect in the alleged violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
