Prosecutors Clear Kim Gun-hee of Allegations Regarding High-Value Leasehold Rights at Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] The prosecution has dismissed the allegations of 'bribery-related leasehold rights' raised around the luxury apartment owned by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

Suspicions of low-price stock purchases of Deutsche Financial and embezzlement of funds from Kobana Contents were also found to have no issues after investigating transaction details.

According to the accuser, Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice (Sasehaeng), the suspicion of high-value leasehold rights concerns Samsung Electronics signing a leasehold contract worth 700 million KRW in July 2010 for the Acrovista mixed-use complex in Seocho-gu owned by Mrs. Kim and renting it for four years, claiming it was a bribe.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated in the non-prosecution reason document, "It was confirmed that Mrs. Kim received 700 million KRW in lease deposit and returned it after contract termination," adding, "At that time, the lease market price for the same size was between 725 million and 775 million KRW, and considering that a foreign executive of Samsung Electronics actually used the residence, it cannot be regarded as bribery or breach of trust."

They also judged that the statute of limitations (7 years) had expired, so there was no prosecutorial authority.

The prosecution also dismissed the suspicion that Mrs. Kim, in collusion with President Yoon, purchased 2.5 million shares of Deutsche Financial at 800 KRW per share in January 2017 from former Deutsche Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo at a 'low price' and received bribes, citing insufficient evidence.

The shares Mrs. Kim purchased were relatively low-priced common stocks, and considering that these shares traded at 540 KRW per share in November 2017, it could not be definitively concluded that 800 KRW was a low price.

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

The prosecution also found no grounds for the suspicion that Mrs. Kim embezzled funds from Kobana Contents.

According to the company's accounting records, it is true that transactions such as recording funds deposited by Mrs. Kim to the company as debts and treating withdrawals to her own account as debt repayments were repeated, but there is no evidence to recognize this as embezzlement.

The prosecution judged that the suspicion of 'large corporation sponsorship' of Kobana Contents by Mrs. Kim was a normal contract without job relevance after comparing the contract periods of each sponsoring company and President Yoon's duties at the time.

A gaming company sponsored a total of 219.5 million KRW for exhibitions including the 2015 'Mark Rothko Exhibition,' 2016 'Le Corbusier, Father of Modern Architecture Exhibition,' 2018 'Alberto Giacometti Exhibition,' and 2019 'Fauvist Masterpieces Exhibition.' Although a criminal case involving the operator of this company was dismissed by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office when President Yoon was a chief prosecutor, since the case had already been sent with a non-prosecution opinion by the police, it was considered difficult to see any solicitation or facilitation of investigation.

Some companies such as Deutsche Motors that sponsored the exhibitions were also subjects of prosecution investigations, but it was found that they were investigated by other prosecution offices or did not overlap with President Yoon's term as chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

In response, Sasehaeng expressed dissatisfaction with the prosecution's dismissal and re-filed complaints against President Yoon and Mrs. Kim with the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (PCC).

Representative Kim Han-me said, "Not summoning Mrs. Kim for investigation and conducting only two written investigations is a clear dereliction of duty by the prosecution," and condemned it as "an intentional lenient investigation that can only be seen as granting immunity to the living power."

He also mentioned the cases of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, raising issues of fairness.

The prosecution explained that whether or how to investigate the accused is judged considering the nature of the charges and evidence, and that it is not always necessary to conduct in-person investigations; many cases are concluded after written investigations in practice.

Mrs. Kim sufficiently confirmed the necessary facts through written investigations, and it was judged that in-person investigation was unnecessary, so the case was closed. Furthermore, it was explained that in the cases of Lee and Cho, improper solicitations and quid pro quo were clearly revealed during investigations, but no illegal circumstances were found in Mrs. Kim's case, leading to different dispositions.

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