Police Do Not Prosecute Kim Geon-hee's "Offer to Give 100 Million Won" Case... "Insufficient Evidence"

Acknowledgment of Payment of 1.05 Million Won as Lecture Fee to Journalist
However, "No Evidence of Causal Relationship Between Lecture Fee Payment and Favorable Coverage"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The police have decided not to prosecute Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol, on charges that she paid money to a journalist under the pretext of lecture fees during President Yoon's election campaign.

The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 18th that it had dismissed the charges against Kim, who was accused on the 10th of violating the Public Official Election Act (bribery for illegal use of broadcasting/newspapers), due to insufficient evidence.

In January, the civic group Peace Tree Fair Election Monitoring Team filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, alleging that around August last year, Kim provided money to reporter Lee under the pretext of lecture fees and stated she would give 100 million won in cash, which they claimed violated the Public Official Election Act.

The police acknowledged that Kim paid reporter Lee Myung-soo of Seoul Voice 1.05 million won as lecture fees and mentioned the intention to give 100 million won. However, the police stated, "There is no concrete evidence to suggest that Kim paid 1.05 million won and expressed the intention to pay 100 million won to reporter Lee in order to secure favorable coverage for President Yoon's election or to avoid certain reports."

Specifically, the police cited the following reasons for insufficient evidence: ▲ reporter Lee initiated phone calls with Kim regarding coverage of Kim's mother's case ▲ reporter Lee led the conversation by first mentioning election-related topics ▲ there was no mention of election-related reporting directions in the recorded phone calls between the two ▲ no evidence was found that reporter Lee reported particularly favorable content for President Yoon or Kim ▲ the lecture by reporter Lee actually took place ▲ no clues were found indicating involvement in election campaigning or joining the election camp before or after the mention of the 100 million won payment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.