Court testimony said Ms. Kim Keon Hee asked, "Is there anything you can do to help?" and requested a personnel favor during a meeting where the chairman of a major firm presented her with high-end jewelry. Lee Bong-gwan, chairman of Seohui Construction, acknowledged giving an expensive necklace, a brooch and a pair of earrings, and said he intended the gifts as a form of insurance so the company could at least contact her if Seohui Construction faced unfair treatment in the future.
Lee testified to that effect on the afternoon of the 26th at the Seoul Central District Court before Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Cho Sun-pyo) in the trial over the alleged solicitation involving Ms. Kim. The allegations about Ms. Kim receiving luxury jewelry became public after Lee detailed the matter in a sworn statement dated Aug. 9 last year, which he submitted to the special prosecutor. Lee told investigators that, arranged by Professor Ham Sung-deuk, he first met Ms. Kim in November 2021, asked her to attend the national breakfast prayer meeting of the presidential defendant Yoon Suk Yeol, and believed that giving gifts would act as insurance for his company's business activities.
In court, Lee explained that by "insurance" he meant that Seohui—an alum-linked company often perceived as pro-Moon—could be subject to baseless accusations during business operations. The objective, he said, was not to secure business favors but to ensure the company could explain and resolve any unfair claims.
When prosecutors asked whether he handed over a necklace at a March 15, 2022 meeting with Ham Sung-deuk and Ms. Kim, after saying he had prepared an accessory as a congratulatory gift for the election, he answered yes. Prosecutors presented records showing his secretary had purchased the Snowflake pendant necklace the day before at Van Cleef & Arpels in Lotte Avenuel World Tower Jamsil for ₩55,600,000 (≈ $41,700).
Lee said, "I thought a congratulatory gift could also serve as insurance—to make ties closer because, once elected, I might not get another chance to meet. I considered giving one gift." He explained, "I told my driver to bring it after I said, 'I bought an accessory, please take it,'" and that he handed it over through a driver. When asked whether it was appropriate to give such an expensive gift to the spouse of a president-elect, Lee said, "Looking back, I don't think I should have, but at the time I thought giving a gift was a way to be friendly since I had the means. I now think I was wrong."
Lee testified that on April 8, 2022 he gave a brooch worth ₩26,100,000 (≈ $19,575). "Ms. Kim thanked me for the necklace and asked if she could help Seohui Construction," he said. "To keep the mood positive, I said, 'My son-in-law is working at the transition committee; if good positions come up, try to use them.'" When asked why he gave another gift less than a month later, Lee said, "Since she had already received one, I worried she might feel slighted if I didn't give another, so I thought it better to give it." He added, "I judged that to ensure she'd at least take my calls if Seohui faced real grievances, this seemed necessary." On who first raised "Is there anything you can do to help the company?" Lee said, "The defendant (Ms. Kim) raised it first." Describing Ms. Kim's response to the son-in-law request, he said, "The tone suggested she would accommodate it. I don’t recall exactly, but she seemed receptive."
Lee's son-in-law is attorney Park Seong-geun, a former prosecutor who was designated on May 24, 2022 and formally appointed as chief of staff to the prime minister on June 3, 2022.
Regarding the ₩22,100,000 (≈ $16,575) earrings he gave on May 18, 2022, Lee said, "I thought it might be the last time—I wouldn't be able to call or be called once they moved into the official residence—so I gave them." When asked whether the gift was an extension of the request for a son-in-law position, Lee replied, "In my mind, the son-in-law's post wasn't that important."
Amid controversy over her wearing luxury jewelry, Ms. Kim returned only the necklace and brooch on July 31, 2023. Lee said she told him, "Thank you, I used them well," when returning the gifts. He added that receiving the jewelry back suddenly left him unsettled: "I wondered whether the relationship was ending or whether she no longer trusted me."
