Former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki Files for Bail Over Alleged Illegal Misappropriation of Residence Budget

Kim Dae-ki, the former presidential chief of staff who was indicted on charges of illegally misappropriating budget funds during the relocation of the presidential residence under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, has requested to stand trial while not in custody.
Kim's legal team filed a bail request with the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 36 (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-yeop) yesterday, June 29.
Kim is accused of ordering the illegal misappropriation and execution of 2.09 billion won from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's budget—funds unrelated to the presidential residence—to pay for construction work carried out by 21gram, an unqualified contractor, during the presidential residence relocation project in 2022.
At the time, the budget allocated for the interior renovation of the residence was approximately 1.44 billion won, but 21gram, the firm that took on the project, submitted an interior design cost estimate of about 4.12 billion won.
Investigations revealed that although the cost was three times the original plan, the presidential office proceeded with the construction without any verification or adjustments.
The Second Comprehensive Special Prosecutor's Team, led by Kwon Chang-young, concluded that the presidential office under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration pressured officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Government Buildings Management Headquarters and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to illegally execute the budget to cover the increased construction costs.
Kim was arrested on May 22 in connection with these charges and was indicted on June 9 following further investigations.
Former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, former Secretary to the President for General Affairs Yoon Jae-soon, and former Secretary to the President for Management Kim Oh-jin were also indicted.
This case marks the first indictment since the launch of the comprehensive special prosecutor's team on February 25, and the first preparatory hearing for the trial is scheduled for July 2.
The court plans to conduct the bail hearing for Kim on the same day.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.