The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said it has referred the handling of a luxury handbag case involving Kim Keon-hee — the former Kobana CEO and the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol — to the National Investigation Headquarters, citing procedural irregularities. On May 8, the commission’s Task Force for Normalization released a report detailing its findings.
The investigation found that, during the Yoon administration, the commission exceeded statutory deadlines by a significant margin in processing the case in which Kim accepted a luxury handbag. It also uncovered allegations that Jeong Seung-yoon — a former deputy chair of the commission, ex-prosecutor and close associate of Yoon — exerted pressure. The probe said there were claims that Jeong met with Yoon before the case was handled.
The task force likewise identified shortcomings in the commission’s handling of a 2024 controversy over alleged “preferential treatment” in a helicopter transfer involving Lee Jae-myung while he served as leader of the Democratic Party.
The TF found evidence that Jeong included items in a resolution related to the July 2024 “helicopter all-onboard” report involving Lee — items that had not been placed on the plenary committee’s agenda or discussed at its meeting. According to the task force, the responsible department had recommended an “institutional referral” aimed at improving procedures for the Busan Fire Department official who authorized the medical helicopter transfer, but Jeong reportedly instructed that the matter be processed as a notice of a code-of-conduct violation instead.
