[Current & Culture] Dior Bags Are Not Guilty

The term "special prosecutor," abbreviated as "teukgeom" in Korean, inherently carries distrust toward the prosecution from its inception. If the prosecution and prosecutors were completely trustworthy, the special prosecutor system would never have been created. So, what was the first case in South Korea to involve a special prosecutor? Since it is relatively recent, many people likely witnessed that historic moment. It was the 1999 "clothing lobbying scandal."

The case itself was quite simple. When the chairman of the now-defunct Shindong-A Group was accused of illegal foreign currency smuggling, his wife allegedly bought expensive luxury clothes for the then Prosecutor General's wife to help her husband. It seemed like a case whose truth would soon be revealed, but the investigation became increasingly tangled. When the chairman's wife, Lee Hyung-ja, herself leaked the case to the media, the Prosecutor General's wife sued her for defamation. During the investigation, the prosecution excessively protected the Prosecutor General's wife, which only intensified suspicions. Moreover, as other figures who piqued public curiosity?such as a minister's wife and a luxury brand CEO?became involved one after another, a parliamentary hearing was eventually held. Witnesses gave conflicting testimonies, and for the first time in constitutional history, a special prosecutor was appointed. Despite the media frenzy, the conclusion was anticlimactic. The special prosecutor officially announced that the case was about a conglomerate chairman's wife attempting to lobby high-ranking power figures' wives to save her husband but failing. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office concluded it was a "baseless lobbying" and closed the investigation.

Now, 25 years later, the president's wife is embroiled in allegations of accepting bribes in the form of luxury handbags. Supporters who actively defend Kim Geon-hee claim that this is all a hidden camera conspiracy and that she is actually the victim. Their argument is that there is no need to apologize and that since the Dior bag has already been confiscated by the state treasury, it cannot be returned. Regardless, some acknowledge that there are shortcomings from the public's perspective and take a more cautious stance. There are even calls within the ruling party for Kim Geon-hee to apologize directly ahead of the general election. The opposition party is framing it as a clear act of bribery. More strongly, there are proposals within the Democratic Party to include the Dior bag bribery allegations in the "Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Act" (a special prosecutor law to investigate the stock manipulation allegations related to Deutsche Motors involving the president's spouse). If this happens, a special prosecutor will investigate a luxury scandal again after 25 years. Where do you, the readers, stand on this?

Some might wonder why there is such a fuss over a Dior bag. Understandably so, since until 2017, the Dior brand's total domestic sales were only in the hundreds of billions of won, and it was operating at a loss. However, from 2018 onward, it showed an astonishing growth rate, surpassing 1 trillion won in total sales last year and recently posting operating profits of several hundred billion won annually. For reference, only Chanel and Louis Vuitton have recorded sales in the trillion-won range in Korea's luxury market. Not being an industry expert, I do not know the reasons behind this explosive growth, but it is clear that the brand's recognition has increased due to this incident. Dior bags are covered in the main news almost daily.

What’s wrong with Dior bags? Being successful is not a crime. Bribery is the crime. The core issue is very simple. We just need to verify whether Kim Geon-hee receiving the Dior bag constitutes bribery or not. The luxury scandal 25 years ago remains an unsatisfactory chapter in history, but I hope this time a simple issue will not be buried in complexity. I intend to observe the situation, also to see how the Kim Young-ran Act is actually applied in practice as a broadcast producer.

Lee Jae-ik, Novelist

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