Choo Mi-ae Reported to Police Over Alleged Misuse of Funds for Official Residence

A civic group filed a complaint with the police today (the 15th) against Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, accusing her of abuse of power and professional negligence for allegedly spending excessive budget on an official residence and official vehicles despite a fiscal emergency in the province.

The civic group, Action for Correcting Judicial Justice (ACAJJ), visited the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency at 11 a.m. today and submitted a complaint requesting the punishment of Governor Choo on charges of abuse of authority, professional negligence, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (loss of state funds, etc.), and defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Prior to submitting the complaint, Kim Han-me, the standing representative of the group, held a press conference pointing out that Governor Choo had secured a lease for an apartment in the Gwanggyo area as an official residence using 1.22 billion won in provincial funds, even after declaring a "fiscal emergency" in Gyeonggi Province and initiating expenditure restructuring.

Representative Kim argued, "While drastically cutting budgets for residents, she spent provincial funds for her own official residence and official vehicle," adding, "This violates the duty to manage finances soundly and efficiently, inflicting financial damage on Gyeonggi Province."

He maintained that such budget execution constitutes abuse of the governor's budget compilation authority, obstructing relevant public officials from exercising their legitimate rights, and caused financial damage to Gyeonggi Province, which falls under charges such as professional negligence.

Previously, Governor Choo declared a "Gyeonggi Province fiscal emergency" on the 5th of last month, citing worsening financial conditions caused by the issuance of local government bonds by the previous administration.

Subsequently, while compiling a supplementary budget plan, Gyeonggi Province undertook expenditure restructuring amounting to 546.5 billion won. However, controversy arose after it was recently revealed that Governor Choo contracted a lease for an apartment with a dedicated area of 156 square meters in Gwanggyo New Town, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon City, using 1.22 billion won in provincial funds.

In addition, Representative Kim claimed that Governor Choo's remarks targeting President Lee Jae-myung—asking, "Why are you piggybacking on and walking on eggshells around these forces?"—at the "2026 Gyeonggi Province Pro-Democracy Movement Victims Memorial Ceremony" held at Moran Park in Namyangju City on the 12th amounted to defamation by stating false facts under the Information and Communications Network Act.

The group argued that making such remarks without objective grounds that President Lee had compromised with insurrection forces lowered the president's social standing.

The police plan to review the contents of the complaint submitted by the ACAJJ today and initiate an investigation.
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.