Seoul, South Korea: South Korea’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, has been questioned over allegations of stock manipulation and graft involving a $2,200 luxury handbag, the prosecution confirmed on Sunday.
The questioning comes as the opposition calls for a special probe into the first lady, who has been under scrutiny for accepting a Dior bag in violation of government ethics rules and her alleged role in a stock manipulation scheme.
Prosecutors conducted “face-to-face questioning” of Kim on Saturday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement.
Hidden camera footage released last year appeared to show Kim accepting a $2,200 luxury designer handbag, an act later dubbed the “Dior bag scandal” by local media. The scandal negatively impacted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval ratings, contributing to a stinging defeat for his party in general elections in April, where it failed to win back a parliamentary majority.
Such a gift would violate South Korean law, which bans public officials and their spouses from accepting anything worth more than $750. Kim’s aide told investigators earlier this month that the first lady instructed her to return the bag on the same day she received it, but she had forgotten to do so, according to Yonhap news agency.
In his first remarks on the bag scandal in February, Yoon dismissed it as a “political scheme” and said his wife accepted the bag only because it was difficult for her to refuse. However, he later apologized in a rare press conference in May, describing his wife’s acceptance of the bag as “unwise.”
This is not the first time Kim has faced public scrutiny. During Yoon’s presidential campaign, she was forced to apologize over falsified credentials.
