PROSECUTORS probed South Korean First Lady Kim Keon-hee for about 12 hours regarding allegations of stock manipulation and graft involving a Dior handbag worth two thousand two hundred U.S. dollars ($2,200).
According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, they conducted face-to-face questioning of the first lady on Saturday.
The investigation also includes claims of stock price manipulation tied to an imported car dealer before South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol‘s term.
Kim Keon-Hee is suspected of violating laws that ban public officials and their families from accepting gifts over seven hundred fifty U.S. dollars ($750).
In South Korea, it is illegal for public officials- as well as their spouses- to accept any gift that is worth one million won, or 750 U.S. dollars, in a single time, or a total of 3 million won in a year.
The “Dior bag scandal,” highlighted by hidden camera footage, has damaged President Yoon’s approval ratings and contributed to his party’s defeat in April, despite initial dismissals of the issue as a “political scheme.”
President Yoon apologized in May, calling his wife’s acceptance of the luxury bag, “unwise.”
Opposition parties in South Korea are demanding a special counsel investigation.
