Prosecutors Find No Evidence in Kim Keon-hee's 'Kobana Sponsorship' Allegations... "No Proof" (Comprehensive)

Yoon Also Cleared of Charges in Joint Prosecution

The prosecution has ultimately dismissed the allegations of 'large corporation sponsorship' involving Kobana Contents, an exhibition planning company operated by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol. This comes two years and five months after the complaint was filed in September 2020.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) announced on the 2nd that it had decided not to prosecute Kim for charges including bribery and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act related to Kobana Contents due to insufficient evidence. The prosecution also cleared President Yoon, who was jointly accused with Kim.

First Lady Kim Geon-hee [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon and First Lady Kim were suspected of involvement in receiving illicit sponsorships as Kobana Contents held the 'Mark Rothko Exhibition' in 2015, the 'Father of Modern Architecture Le Corbusier Exhibition' in 2016, the 'Alberto Giacometti Exhibition' in 2018, and the 'Fauvist Masterpieces Exhibition' in 2019. All four exhibitions were investigated for bribery related to sponsorships but were cleared of charges on this day.

The charge of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act did not apply to the Mark Rothko Exhibition, which was held before the law was enacted, and the Le Corbusier Exhibition was previously cleared of charges in December 2021. As a result, First Lady Kim has been fully exonerated of all allegations related to Kobana Contents' sponsorships.

President Yoon served as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2018 and was nominated as Prosecutor General around the time Kobana Contents organized the Fauvist Masterpieces Exhibition. This led to suspicions that companies might have heavily sponsored the exhibitions organized by Kobana Contents in connection with President Yoon's official duties.

However, the prosecution stated that based on two written investigations of First Lady Kim, forced investigations of Kobana Contents and sponsoring companies, accounting records, bank account details, report documents, forensic analysis of mobile phones of related parties, and summons investigations, no evidence of bribery or violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act was found.

A prosecution official said, "Sponsorships were officially promoted through negotiations among practitioners as part of contracts aimed at marketing, which is common in the performing arts and exhibition sectors, including promotional advertisements and ticket provisions as reciprocal benefits for sponsorship funds," adding, "No evidence was found to determine job-relatedness, improper solicitation, or quid pro quo related to criminal cases."

The prosecution found one case where a criminal case involving a company investigated by President Yoon during his tenure as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was dismissed without charges after the sponsorship. However, after summons and forced investigations of the investigation team and sponsoring companies, it was judged to be a properly handled case.

The suspicion that the number of sponsors sharply increased when President Yoon was nominated as Prosecutor General during the Fauvist Masterpieces Exhibition was found to be untrue, with the scale of existing sponsors maintained at a similar level.

The prosecution explained that there was no forensic investigation of First Lady Kim's mobile phone. However, they sent a substantial questionnaire covering all points that needed confirmation from the party during the written investigation and judged that it was unnecessary to proceed to summons investigation after verifying the necessary facts.

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