South Korea probes former first lady for using taxpayer money to fund 2018 India trip

South Korea has initiated an inquiry into allegations that taxpayers footed the bill for former first lady Kim Jung-sook’s 2018 trip to India’s Agra, which houses the Taj Mahal, according to a report.

South Korea has opened the investigation into the case nearly six months after the complaint was filed in December last year.

According to The Korea Herald report_,_ Lee Jong-bae, a People Power Party (PPP) member on the Seoul Metropolitan Council, filed a complaint against Kim with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, accusing her of breach of trust related to the India trip, abusing public funds, embezzling from the national coffers and abuse of power.

Kim’s trip attracted renewed scrutiny after her husband Moon Jae-in shed light on why she travelled to India in his memoir published last month, reported South China Morning Post.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited me to return to India for the opening of the Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park, but it was difficult for me to visit India again,” SCMP report quoted Moon as writing, referring to the ancient queen.

“So I declined, and India then asked me to send my wife instead,” he added.

The former president called the tour as “the first stand-alone diplomacy by a first lady”, adding he decided to break his silence about the incident to rebut critics who “distort the facts as if my wife went on a junket using taxpayer money”, South China Morning Post reported

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

But that explanation failed to convince the PPP which has maintained the 400 million won (US$290,506) trip was organised to fulfil Kim’s wish to see the Taj Mahal India’s Agra, added the report.

The party also called for a special counsel to investigate claims surrounding Kim, which the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) criticised as politically driven.

They insisted on a similar inquiry into the current first lady, Kim Keon-hee, regarding the receipt of a $2,200 Dior handbag from a Korean-American pastor in 2022.

On Monday, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced the closure of the investigation into Yoon’s wife, citing a lack of legal provisions to hold spouses of elected public officials accountable.

The opposition described the decision as “disastrous” and questioned the agency’s impartiality, reported The Korea Herald.

“The DPK will promptly push for a special counsel investigation into Kim Keon-hee cases to prevent evasion,” referencing additional allegations against her, including tax evasion.

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok stated on Tuesday that his department would continue probing the handbag incident and ascertain the reasons behind the anti-corruption agency’s dismissal of the case.

With inputs from agencies