Advisory committee mulls indictment of pastor who gifted handbag to first lady

A panel of legal experts held a meeting at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday to discuss whether the state prosecution service should indict Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young for gifting a luxury handbag to first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young holds a press conference outside the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

A panel of legal experts held a meeting at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday to discuss whether the state prosecution service should indict Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young for gifting a luxury handbag to first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The committee, which has already advised the state prosecution service against indicting the first lady on Sept. 6, is expected to issue its advice late Tuesday as to whether prosecutors should seek an indictment against Choi on charges of committing graft, defamation and obstruction of official duties.

Choi secretly recorded himself giving Kim a blue calfskin Lady Dior pouch worth 3 million won ($2,240) at her office in 2022.

The video was released by the left-leaning YouTube channel Voice of Seoul last November — more than a year after Choi recorded it — leading to accusations that the pastor had conspired with the outlet to damage the first couple’s standing in the lead-up to the April general election, when the president’s People Power Party suffered a crushing defeat.

The committee of 15 experts occasionally review politically sensitive investigations conducted by prosecutors and offers advice regarding the legal merits of seeking an indictment.

The case was referred to the investigative review committee in late August by then-Prosecutor General Lee One-seok, who said advice from outside experts was necessary to ensure the probe’s fairness and dispel suspicions regarding the prosecution service’s impartiality.

Although the committee’s advice is not binding, prosecutors are required by law to consider its recommendations.

Choi, who protested his exclusion from the committee’s meeting with Kim and her lawyer when they advised the prosecution against indicting her, has demanded a review of the decision and argued both he and the first lady should be indicted for violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

However, investigators working on the case determined that the bag and other items gifted to Kim by Choi had no bearing on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official duties, according to prosecution officials.

After the scandal broke, President Yoon Suk Yeol called his wife’s acceptance of the pastor’s gift an “unwise act” in a public address that was widely seen as falling short of a full-throated apology.

In comments to reporters on Sept. 9, four days before his term expired, Lee said investigators had thoroughly examined the incident but added that “unwise acts,” such as the first lady’s acceptance of the Dior bag, do not automatically entail criminal charges or prosecution.

However, he also said that the case had exposed the shortcomings of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, which, in its current form, prohibits government officials — but not their spouses — from receiving monetary or material remuneration that could impede them from fairly executing their duties.

The prosecutor general added that antigraft laws regarding government officials should be revised to include spouses.

The state prosecution service is expected to finalize its decision on whether to indict the first lady and Choi after the panel issues its advice.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]