Former justice minister urges probe of South Korean First Lady’s Dior bag scandal

Referring to a controversy surrounding secretly filmed video footage that showed the first lady seemingly accepting a Dior bag as a gift from a pastor, he said the ruling People Power Party defeat in the Assembly election was “the people’s warning to the president and his dictatorial rule.”

Kim Arin

Kim Arin

The Korea Herald

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Cho Kuk holds a press conference outside the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho, central Seoul, on April 11. PHOTO: YONHAP/ THE KOREA HERALD

April 12, 2024

SEOUL – Cho Kuk, the former justice minister-turned-leader of a rising third party urged prosecutors Thursday to investigate first lady Kim Keon Hee, just a day after the National Assembly election.

“This is a final warning to the country’s prosecutors,” he said in a press conference held outside the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul.

He said the ruling People Power Party defeat in the Assembly election was “the people’s warning to the president and his dictatorial rule.”

“The prosecutors must immediately summon the first lady for an investigation,” he said. “The people are asking why our prosecution service is sparing Yoon and his family.”

He referred to a controversy surrounding secretly filmed video footage that showed the first lady seemingly accepting a Dior bag as a gift from a pastor.

“The prosecutors ought to investigate why the first lady received the luxury bag, and if she has returned any favors.”

Cho, who was justice minister for the last President Moon Jae-in, has campaigned on “punishing the Yoon administration for its failures.”

He and 11 others at his party were elected proportional representation in the Assembly in Wednesday’s election.

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