SEOUL, The state anti-corruption agency said Monday it has decided to close its review of a complaint over first lady Kim Keon Hee’s luxury bag gift scandal, citing no clause of punishment for public officials’ spouses under the anti-graft act.

Last year, Voice of Seoul published a video showing a Korean American pastor hand over a Dior handbag, worth 3 million won (US$2,214), to Kim during their meeting in Seoul in September 2022.

In December, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a progressive civic group, filed a corruption complaint with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission against President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife as well as the pastor on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

The anti-corruption commission said it has decided to close the review of the case as there are no rules on punishment for public officials’ spouses under the graft act.

In May, prosecutors questioned the pastor on charges of secretly filming his delivery of the handbag to th
e first lady, which had been privately purchased by a Voice of Seoul reporter and handed to the pastor.

Source: Yonhap News Agency