Prosecution reviews decision not to indict first lady over luxury bag scandal after appeal

The Seoul High Prosecutors Office has begun reexamining a lower office's decision not to indict first lady Kim Keon Hee over her acceptance of a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor in 2012, officials said Friday. The office recently assigned the appeal case to its criminal department to assess whether the Seoul District Prosecutors Office's decision was appropriate and if a reinvestigation is necessary, the officials said. Earlier this month, the district prosecutors office decided not to charge the first lady over her receipt of a Dior handbag worth 3 million won (US$2,187) and other expensive items from the pastor in 2022, concluding that the gifts were not given in exchange for favors. The office also decided not to press related charges against President Yoon Suk Yeol. Contesting the decision, Baek Eun-jong, head of the internet news outlet Voice of Seoul, filed an appeal, urging the prosecution to indict the presidential couple. Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young gave the gifts to the first lady at her office and secretly filmed the meeting with a hidden camera. The video was later published by Voice of Seoul, whose head subsequently filed a bribery complaint against the presidential couple. The high prosecutors office is unlikely to overturn the lower office's decision. Source: Yonhap News Agency