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Nursing home run by Kim Keon Hee's family suspended over alleged fraud and resident abuse

Published: 29 Sep. 2025, 19:53

A nursing home operated by the family of former First Lady Kim Keon Hee in Namyangju, Gyeonggi on Sept. 29 [YONHAP]

A nursing home operated by the family of former First Lady Kim Keon Hee has been suspended for 104 days after the facility was discovered to have improperly billed the national long-term care insurance program, the city of Namyangju said Monday.

According to the city, the nursing home has begun transferring residents to other facilities, with the suspension set to take effect once the relocation is completed at the end of October.

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) found that Kim’s mother, Choi Eun-soon, and her brother, Kim Jin-woo, who run the nursing home, had fraudulently claimed about 1.44 billion won ($1 million) in long-term care benefits. The investigation covered the period from March 2022 to February 2025, during which the facility received a total of 5.15 billion won. About 665 million won, or 12.9 percent of the total, was found to have been improperly claimed, including through inflated reporting of staff work hours.

The NHIS also confirmed that from August 2018 to February 2022, the nursing home used similar methods to obtain about 775 million won in improper payments.

Citing Article 37 of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act, which stipulates suspension for providers that “claim benefits by false or other improper means,” Namyangju City imposed the administrative penalty. The NHIS will directly recover the improperly claimed funds. Separately, police are investigating the nursing home over allegations of both fraudulent claims and resident abuse. Fraudulent claims amounting to more than 10 percent of total payments can trigger criminal prosecution.

The case began with a report filed in April, which prompted the NHIS to conduct a joint inspection with Namyangju City, police and a senior citizens' protection agency. Investigators found that in addition to fraudulent billing, some residents had been restrained for long periods during diaper changes without privacy screens.

The nursing home's catering contractor was also fined between 200,000 and 500,000 won for violations, including cooks not wearing masks and foreign substances found on kitchen utensils.

Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party accused the facility of failing to properly treat an octogenarian resident who suffered diarrhea for more than three weeks and later died after being belatedly transferred to a hospital. He filed a police complaint, alleging involuntary manslaughter and violations of the Welfare of the Aged Act.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said it is investigating both the NHIS findings and Chung’s complaint. “We have already questioned Kim’s mother and brother once as suspects in the case,” a police official said. “Based on the evidence gathered so far, we plan to summon them again for further questioning.”

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.
BY JEON ICK-JIN [[email protected]]