Suspected benefactors get talkative as probe into ex-first lady's alleged expensive tastes widens
Published: 13 Aug. 2025, 07:00
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee attend a dinner with Korean expatriates at a hotel in Madrid, Spain, on June 29, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/13/a89a9797-9dd5-417e-9414-f680d68fe45b.jpg)
Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee attend a dinner with Korean expatriates at a hotel in Madrid, Spain, on June 29, 2022. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
As Special Counsel Min Joong-ki’s team expands its probe into whether ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee accepted high-end goods, key benefactors — including Lee Bong-kwan, chairman of Seohee Construction, as well as a former head of a robot dog company surnamed Seo — have begun confessing to providing them.
The inquiry has revived a scandal that first surfaced during former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s inaugural overseas trip to Madrid, Spain, in 2022. The case has widened to include additional allegations that Kim accepted luxury items from figures linked to the Unification Church and from a business owner involved in a government contract, raising questions about possible bribery and influence-peddling.
‘Gift for first lady Kim’
At a dinner with Korean expatriates as part of Yoon's trip to Madrid for a NATO summit, Kim wore a diamond necklace currently valued at about 62 million won ($44,620), later alleged to have been a gift from construction company Seohee Construction's CEO.
On Tuesday, the special counsel said it had obtained the actual Van Cleef & Arpels Snowflake pendant necklace Kim wore during the NATO summit trip — the piece Seohee Construction allegedly gave her shortly after Yoon’s election.
At a regular briefing in Seoul, assistant special counsel Oh Jung-hee said investigators had seized the authentic necklace, which the company had kept in storage for several years, along with a counterfeit version.
Both were presented in court earlier in the day during Kim’s detention warrant hearing.
![Officials from the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki investigating allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee load boxes of confiscated items into a vehicle on Aug. 11 after completing a search of the Seohee Construction headquarters in Seocho District, Seoul, in connection with the necklate that Kim wore to a NATO summit in Madrid in 2022. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/13/a16d25aa-31fc-485b-93f0-c113a67c9e20.jpg)
Officials from the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki investigating allegations involving first lady Kim Keon Hee load boxes of confiscated items into a vehicle on Aug. 11 after completing a search of the Seohee Construction headquarters in Seocho District, Seoul, in connection with the necklate that Kim wore to a NATO summit in Madrid in 2022. [NEWS1]
On Monday, Chairman Lee of Seohee Construction confessed to having "bought it right after the presidential election on March 9 [in 2022] and gave it to first lady Kim."
This contradicted Kim’s claim during questioning that the piece she wore was a fake she bought in Hong Kong two decades ago.
The special counsel now plans to investigate how the counterfeit was later found at a relative’s home and whether Kim or others obstructed the investigation or destroyed evidence.
Investigators are also examining whether other accessories she wore on the trip — including a Cartier bracelet worth roughly 15 million won and a Tiffany brooch valued at around 20 million won — were also provided by outside benefactors.
Following the trip, in late August that year, the Democratic Party of Korea accused Kim of failing to declare the three luxury items in Yoon’s presidential election asset disclosure. In September, the party filed a complaint against Yoon for making false statements under the Public Official Election Act.
![Shaman Jeon Seong-bae, also known as ″Geon Jin,″ attends a trial at the Seoul Southen District Court in Yangcheon District, western Seoul on May 12. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/13/a76457c2-a13e-43f8-a996-fb762576d66d.jpg)
Shaman Jeon Seong-bae, also known as ″Geon Jin,″ attends a trial at the Seoul Southen District Court in Yangcheon District, western Seoul on May 12. [YONHAP]
‘Aide instructed to receive Chanel bags’
The Van Cleef necklace is not the only item under scrutiny. Between April and July 2022, Kim allegedly received a Graff necklace worth about 62 million won and two Chanel handbags valued at roughly 20 million won each from the Unification Church via shaman Jeon Seong-bae, better known as “Geon Jin.” These allegations appear in the special counsel’s arrest warrant request for Kim.
The special counsel claims Kim, in collusion with Jeon, accepted the luxury items from Unification Church representatives, including former global headquarters director Yoon Young-ho, who testified he acted “at the request of Hak Ja Han, the church’s leader, as part of an attempt to seek favor.”
The ultimate whereabouts of these luxury items remain unclear. Jeon claims he told Kim’s aide, former secretary Yoo Kyung-ok, to exchange the items, but later lost them.
Kim’s representatives insist “Yoo was merely running a personal errand for Jeon and Kim never received the gifts.”
Investigators suspect Kim, Jeon, and Yoo coordinated their statements. They believe Jeon handed the gifts directly to Kim, who then told Yoo to exchange them.
![Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, central Seoul, on Aug. 12 after attending a hearing to determine the validity of her arrest warrant. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/13/a18a52a6-3c4d-4adb-964f-592e085e8425.jpg)
Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, central Seoul, on Aug. 12 after attending a hearing to determine the validity of her arrest warrant. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
‘VIP discount’
The probe has also expanded to the alleged acceptance of a Swiss luxury watch.
The special counsel is investigating claims that in September 2022, a former robotics company CEO surnamed Seo, who was involved in a no-bid government contract for presidential office security robots, gave Kim a Vacheron Constantin watch worth about 50 million won.
Seo reportedly delivered the watch at the office of Covana Contents, Kim’s cultural events company.
Seo told investigators on Friday that “after [Yoon] took office, Kim asked me to buy a watch for her to wear on overseas trips. I got a VIP discount thanks to former secretary Yoo’s guarantee. Kim paid for it, so it was not a bribe.”
Around the same time at the Covana Contents office, Kim also received a Dior handbag and cosmetics worth about 3 million won from U.S. pastor Choi Jae-young.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office decided last October not to indict in that case, citing a lack of connection to her official duties or evidence of a quid pro quo.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY LEE CHAN-KYU, JEON MIN-GOO, YANG SU-MIN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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