SEOUL, A news outlet on Tuesday denounced the state corruption watchdog’s finding of no law violations in the first lady’s controversial acceptance of a luxury bag from a pastor, saying it could influence the ongoing prosecution probe into the case.

Yang Tae-jeong, a lawyer representing the head of Voice of Seoul, voiced the criticism a day after the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission concluded that President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee did not commit any violations and closed its inquiry into the case.

Last year, Voice of Seoul, a liberal YouTube-based news channel, published a video showing a Korean American pastor handing over a shopping bag, which it claimed contained a Dior handbag worth 3 million won (US$2,176), to Kim at her office in Seoul in September 2022.

A civic group had subsequently filed a complaint against the presidential couple with the commission on graft suspicions. Currently, the prosecution is also conducting an investigation into the allegations.

“I suspect t
he decision was aimed at saving the first lady,” Baek told Yonhap News Agency over the phone, expressing concerns that the decision could influence the ongoing prosecution investigation.

“I also suspect whether the commission’s decision provided some kind of guideline (for the investigation),” the lawyer said, adding that prosecutors might hesitate to reach a decision different from the commission’s due to concerns about potential divisions between government bodies.

He said the commission’s decision lacked specific explanations about whether the president made a written declaration of accepting the bag, and called on the prosecution to carry out its investigation independently, without being influenced by the commission’s findings.

Source: Yonhap News Agency