Police Summon Kim Eun-hye, Spokesperson, for Investigation as Suspect in 'Asset Underreporting' Case

Kim Eun-hye, Chief of Public Relations at the Presidential Office
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] It has been reported that the police summoned Kim Eun-hye, the presidential office's chief spokesperson, on the 5th as a suspect for investigation regarding allegations of asset underreporting during the June 1 local elections.

The Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi Province is conducting a summons investigation against Chief Kim on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act (false information disclosure). Chief Kim is accused of underreporting approximately 1.6 billion KRW worth of assets, including her spouse's building and securities holdings, during the local election campaign when she ran for governor of Gyeonggi Province. She is also suspected of making statements at the gubernatorial candidate debate, hosted by the Gyeonggi Province Election Broadcasting Debate Committee, that differed from the shared ownership of her spouse's building as recorded in the asset declaration.

This case was initially received by the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office following investigation requests from the Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeonggi Provincial Party and the Election Commission, and was later transferred to the Bundang Police Station, the competent police authority. After handing over the investigation of the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund allegations' case to the higher authority, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Bundang Police Station has been reviewing the matter. Although Bundang Police initially planned to summon Chief Kim for questioning in August, they began the summons investigation on this day, more than two months earlier.

Under the Public Official Election Act, the charge of false information disclosure is punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. Particularly, cases involving violations of the Public Official Election Act generally proceed to formal trial (public trial) due to their impact on eligibility for election. If Chief Kim is indicted, she is likely to face criminal court proceedings while serving as the current presidential office's chief spokesperson. Furthermore, if found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment or fined 1 million KRW or more, Chief Kim will be disqualified from running for office for five years.

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