Prosecutors Summon Kim Hye-kyung on the 7th for 'Corporate Card Misuse' Investigation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been confirmed that the prosecution notified Kim Hye-kyung, the spouse of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is suspected of misusing corporate credit cards, to appear and undergo investigation on the 7th.

According to the legal community, the Public Investigation Division of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Won-du) recently notified Kim as a suspect of breach of trust in the course of duty and violation of the Public Official Election Act to appear at the prosecution on this day and respond to the investigation. As of the morning of this day, Kim has not yet appeared before the prosecution. There are also reports that she has decided not to comply with the investigation.

Kim is accused of knowingly allowing Bae, a close aide and former Grade 5 special appointment official at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, who paid for her meals using the Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s corporate credit card from July 2018 to September 2022 while her husband, Lee, was serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province (breach of trust in the course of duty). The scale of Bae’s misuse of the corporate card is understood to be about 150 cases totaling approximately 20 million KRW. Among these, the amount directly related to Kim is about 20 cases, totaling approximately 2 million KRW.

The police, who first investigated the case, concluded that there was an implicit conspiracy between Bae, the direct user of the corporate card, and Kim, who is suspected to be the superior, regarding the crime, and referred Kim to the prosecution as a co-conspirator in this case.

Kim is also accused of violating the Public Official Election Act (restriction on donation activities) by providing meals worth about 100,000 KRW on August 2 last year at a restaurant in Seoul to three party-related personnel, her driver, and lawyer after Lee declared his candidacy for the party’s presidential primary. The statute of limitations for this charge will expire on the 9th. Meanwhile, the prosecution summoned Bae, a key figure in this case, on the 5th and conducted an investigation lasting over 12 hours.

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