Special Prosecutor Secures Chanel Bag and Other Items Allegedly Received by Kim Gun-hee from Unification Church... Clear Signs of Use Confirmed

Special Prosecutor Seizes Items Submitted via Geonjin Bopsa
Jeon Seongbae Claims "Received Back After Delivering to Mrs. Kim"
Kim Gunhee’s Side Alleges "Possibility of Coercion or Inducement by Special Prosecutor"
No Additional Statement from Special Prosecutor Min on 'Stock Trading Allegations'

The special prosecutor team led by Min Joong-ki, which is investigating various allegations against Mrs. Kim Gun-hee, has secured items such as a Chanel bag that the Unification Church allegedly gave to Mrs. Kim in exchange for lobbying on church matters. The special prosecutor’s team stated that while the items are not damaged, there are clear signs of use.

The first trial of Mrs. Kim Gunhee, who was detained and indicted on charges of stock price manipulation related to Deutsch Motors and allegations of receiving money from the Unification Church, was held on the afternoon of the 24th. Mrs. Kim is entering the courtroom and conversing with her lawyer. September 24, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Deputy Special Prosecutor Park Sang-jin said at a regular briefing on the 22nd, "Yesterday afternoon, through a lawyer representing Jeon Seong-bae, also known as Geonjin Bopsa, we received and seized one Graff necklace worth 62.2 million won, one pair of Chanel shoes that Kim Gun-hee exchanged after receiving, and three Chanel bags." He added, "Upon seizing the items, we confirmed that the serial numbers and other information matched. In the related trial, we plan to clarify the circumstances of the delivery, return, and storage of these items, including by requesting additional witnesses."

The items secured by the special prosecutor's team were given to Mrs. Kim by Yoon, the former worldwide head of the Unification Church, through Jeon between April and July 2022, while lobbying for church-related issues. Since the beginning of the investigation, the special prosecutor’s team has been tracking the whereabouts of the Chanel bag and Graff necklace in question, but they were not found during searches of Mrs. Kim’s residence at Acrovista in Seocho-gu or the office of Covana Contents, which she operated.

While it is difficult to publicly disclose the full details of the case, the special prosecutor’s team explained that there is sufficient evidence indicating that valuables were received. Deputy Special Prosecutor Park stated, "Regarding the suspicion that Kim Gun-hee received these items, there is testimony from a Chanel store employee as well as several pieces of evidence suggesting her involvement," adding, "Although the items are not damaged, there are clear signs of use." He further explained, "For items like bags or shoes, you can tell by looking at the soles or the straps."

Jeon, who has been indicted on charges of receiving bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, had previously denied receiving and delivering the items. However, it has recently been confirmed that he submitted a statement to the court during his own trial, admitting, "I received valuables from the Unification Church and delivered them to Kim Gun-hee’s side, and later received the items and exchanged goods back." This suggests that he delivered the items to Mrs. Kim’s side in 2022 and received them back for safekeeping last year.

However, the statement reportedly did not include specific details regarding the circumstances or motives for the return of the items. Deputy Special Prosecutor Park said, "We plan to clarify the circumstances of the delivery, return, and storage of the items through additional witness questioning and related investigations during the trial."

In response, Mrs. Kim’s legal team immediately issued a statement, saying, "The items that the special prosecutor claims to have secured have not been confirmed as having been delivered to or received by the defendant," and argued, "Proceeding immediately with evidence review poses a significant risk of infringing on the right to defense." They further stated, "There has been no explanation regarding how the items were submitted to the special prosecutor," and added, "It is clear that the items were introduced to the special prosecutor via Geonjin, who has been named as an accomplice. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully examine the possibility of illegality or coercion during the collection and submission process, as well as whether the identity of the items has been maintained."

"Special Prosecutor Min: No Additional Statement Regarding 'Insider Trading Allegations'"

Meanwhile, the special prosecutor’s team drew a line, stating that there are no plans to make any additional statements regarding the allegations of Special Prosecutor Min’s "sale of solar company stocks." Deputy Special Prosecutor Park said, "Special Prosecutor Min has already directly addressed the issue through an official apology, and as far as I know, there are no plans for any further statements. An inspection is underway, and if any misconduct is uncovered during the inspection, we will disclose it, but so far, nothing of that sort has been confirmed."

Special Prosecutor Min came under suspicion of "insider trading" after it was revealed that, while serving as a presiding judge at the Seoul High Court, he sold unlisted shares of the solar materials company Neosemitech just before its delisting and made a capital gain of about 150 million won. The company was delisted after the sale due to accounting fraud.

Questions have been raised as to whether Special Prosecutor Min gained an unfair advantage, given that he was a high school and university classmate of the company’s CEO and sold his shares just before the delisting. On the 16th, four days after the allegations first surfaced, Special Prosecutor Min issued a public statement saying, "I apologize for causing controversy regarding my personal stock transactions," and added, "However, I want to make it clear that there was no illegal use of insider information or any other wrongdoing in the process of acquiring or selling the shares."

Min Jung-ki, the special prosecutor in charge of the case related to allegations against Kim Gun-hee, wife of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, along with deputy special prosecutors, spoke after unveiling the signboard at the special prosecutor's office set up in the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul on July 2, 2025. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Regarding the request for the "return to original posts" by dispatched prosecutors, Deputy Special Prosecutor Park stated, "No one has actually returned to their original posts, and at the time, the intention was not to immediately stop the investigation but to see it through to the end. The dispatched prosecutors are currently doing their best and working diligently."

Last month, 40 prosecutors dispatched to the special prosecutor’s team submitted a statement to the special prosecutor requesting to be returned to their original positions at their respective prosecutors’ offices. This was due to the recent passage in the National Assembly of amendments to the Government Organization Act, which include the abolition of the prosecutors’ office and the separation of investigation and indictment functions, making it contradictory for them to continue working in the special prosecutor’s office.

In response to concerns that this request might have undermined the momentum of the special prosecutor’s investigation, the team stated, "That is absolutely not the case." Deputy Special Prosecutor Park said, "Even after that, the investigation team has been working late into the night every day, so any suggestion that they are neglecting their duties is an excessive and unfair assessment. While it is fair to criticize any mistakes, I earnestly emphasize that claims that we are not investigating are simply not true."

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