[Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption and Bribery]
[Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption and Bribery]

Police launched a forced investigation Monday into allegations surrounding how the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption and Bribery handled the case involving first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury Dior bag.

The Korean National Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters, which is handling cases transferred from three special prosecutor investigations — covering Kim Keon Hee, insurrection and the Marine Cpl. Chae Hae-byeong case — said it began searching the commission's offices at 11 a.m. Monday to confirm abuse-of-authority charges against former commission chairman Yoo Cheol-hwan and former vice chairman Jeong Seung-yun. The unit also searched Jeong's residence on Thursday to secure related materials.

The raids were conducted as part of an investigation into how the commission handled allegations in 2024 that Kim had received a luxury bag. The commission closed the case without charges at the time, citing the absence of legal grounds under the Anti-Graft Act to sanction a president's spouse and ruling that gifts received by a presidential spouse are managed as presidential records and therefore carry no reporting obligation.

Earlier, the commission's normalization task force released findings in May concluding that procedural irregularities had occurred — including an informal meeting between former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former Vice Chairman Jeong — and referred the matter to police for investigation.


arin@heraldcorp.com