Presidential Office Begins Investigation of Protocol Secretary Over 'Child School Violence Allegations' and Excludes Him from Overseas Trip

Presidential Office "Aware After National Audit Report... Assessing the Situation"

The Presidential Office announced on the 20th that the Office of Public Service Discipline has launched an investigation into Kim Seung-hee, the Protocol Secretary, who has been suspected of covering up school violence involving her elementary school-aged child.

Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and stated, "The issue of school violence involving the child of the Protocol Secretary of the Presidential Office was raised today at the National Assembly Education Committee's audit." He added, "To facilitate the investigation, Kim Seung-hee has been excluded from the delegation accompanying President Yoon on his (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) visit tomorrow."

Kim Seung-hee, Protocol Secretary to the President's Office Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Young-ho, a member of the National Assembly Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, raised suspicions related to an assault incident involving Kim Seung-hee’s daughter during the audit of the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. Rep. Kim stated, "Kim Seung-hee’s daughter, a third grader in elementary school, took a second-grade female student to the restroom, sat her on the toilet, and assaulted her head and face about ten times with a recorder and fists, causing injuries requiring nine weeks of medical treatment." He continued, "The school violence committee hearing was held more than two months after the incident occurred, and the victim’s mother has no intention of leniency and demanded a forced transfer, but only a class transfer was decided." He questioned, "The perpetrator is in third grade and the victim is in second grade, so is a class transfer effective?"

Rep. Kim explained, "According to the school violence committee’s results, a forced transfer is imposed starting from 16 points, but the perpetrator received 15 points and thus avoided forced transfer." He added, "The victim’s parent suspects that the committee members adjusted the score because they were reluctant to impose a forced transfer and is demanding the perpetrator’s transfer." Rep. Kim also criticized that Kim Seung-hee’s wife uploaded a photo on her KakaoTalk profile showing Kim and President Yoon Seok-yeol together on the day the school principal issued an emergency attendance suspension for the perpetrator, saying, "Even parents and teachers can sufficiently guess who the child’s parents are."

When asked by reporters whether the Presidential Office had received related reports before the National Assembly audit, a Presidential Office official said, "We learned about it from the news reports and are currently assessing the situation." The official added, "The Office of Public Service Discipline will investigate whether there was any improper abuse of position as a senior public official or any inappropriate conduct." Regarding whether Kim Seung-hee has provided any explanations and his future position, the official said, "We need to wait until the investigation is complete. There is the secretary’s position, but we also have to consider the school and the other parents’ positions before making any statements," and refrained from further comment.

When asked who will perform protocol duties during President Yoon’s state visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar in place of Kim Seung-hee, the official replied, "The Protocol Chief is scheduled to accompany the President."

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