Kim Keon-hee Appears as Suspect Before Independent Counsel for First Time Over Presidential Residence Relocation Allegations

Kim Keon-hee, the spouse of former President Yoon Suk Yeol who faces allegations including exercising undue influence over the relocation of the presidential residence and accepting valuables, has been summoned by the 2nd Independent Counsel led by Kwon Chang-young.

The Independent Counsel team has been questioning Kim today (July 22) starting from 10:00 a.m. as a suspect on charges of arranging mediation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes and abuse of authority.

This marks the first time Kim has appeared before the Independent Counsel team for questioning.

Kim, who is currently detained, entered the interrogation room via the basement in a Ministry of Justice transport vehicle, and her appearance was not made public.

Kim is suspected of inappropriately intervening through former First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Oh-jin (then Presidential Secretary for Administration) in 2022 so that interior design firm 21Gram would be awarded the contract for the presidential residence relocation construction.

While abuse of authority is fundamentally a crime applicable to public officials, private individuals can also be punished in cases of complicity.

Kim has also been accused of receiving valuables, such as Dior clothing, from 21Gram in return for preferential treatment including the award of the construction contract.

The allegations regarding the residence relocation center on suspicions that 21Gram, which lacked a general construction license, received preferential treatment by securing a private contract with the presidential office in May 2022 after former President Yoon Suk Yeol took office for the relocation and extension construction of the presidential office and residence.

21Gram is a company that sponsored exhibitions hosted by Covana Contents, which was run by Kim, and was in charge of designing and remodeling her office.

Kim is known to have had close ties with the spouse of 21Gram CEO Kim Tae-young.

Kim was originally scheduled to appear before the Independent Counsel team for questioning on July 19, but after the schedule was postponed twice, she underwent questioning on this day.

The Independent Counsel team reportedly prepared a questionnaire spanning 150 pages of A4 paper.

The Independent Counsel team plans to intensively question Kim regarding the connection between the selection process for the residence relocation construction company and the valuables subsequently received, as well as whether she gave orders or was involved.

Attorneys Choi Ji-woo, Chae Myung-sung, and Yoo Jung-hwa attended on behalf of Kim.

Attorney Chae stated upon attending the questioning, "The raised allegations are merely the independent counsel's one-sided claims and differ from the facts," adding, "(Kim) has never been involved in securing the residence construction contract or similar matters."

He also added, "(Kim) currently has extremely low blood pressure and poor health, making her in no condition to undergo questioning, but she attended to match the independent counsel's stance," and "We will state things as they are and offer our explanations."

The Independent Counsel team is also investigating allegations that approximately 2.8 billion won in Ministry of the Interior and Safety budget was illegally diverted to pay for construction costs excessively calculated by 21Gram.

In connection with this, the Independent Counsel team has indicted former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki and former Senior Presidential Secretary for General Affairs Yoon Jae-soon while they were detained.

Allegations that the Board of Audit and Inspection's audit regarding the residence relocation was scaled down or covered up are also under the Independent Counsel team's investigation scope, with Board of Audit and Inspection member Yoo Byeong-ho having been detained the day before yesterday (July 20) on charges of abusing authority.

The Independent Counsel team also plans to examine whether Kim is linked to suspicions such as the illegal budget diversion and a lenient audit.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.