Seoul, Oct 26 Two former senior judges have joined the special counsel team investigating South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee's corruption case, the team said on Sunday, in a personnel expansion following a revision to the law allowing additional staffing.
Park Noh-soo and Kim Kyung-ho, both currently lawyers, were among those shortlisted by special counsel Min Joon-ki's team last week, and their appointments were approved by President Lee Jae Myung, the team said, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Two assistant special counsels, including Prosecutor Han Moon-hyeok, who had been in charge of investigating Kim's stock manipulation allegations, will return to their positions at the prosecution office, the team added.
The team did not provide a reason for Han's replacement, saying only that it had confirmed certain facts that led them to conclude Han was no longer fit for the position.
On October 22, Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team said it has secured luxury gifts offered by the Unification Church to former first lady Kim Keon Heein in 2022 in exchange for requesting policy favours on church issues.
Shaman Jeon Seong-bae, involved in Kim's bribery claims, voluntarily presented a Graff necklace with a market value of 62.2 million won (USD 43,500), and a pair of Chanel shoes and three Chanel bags, which the first lady had received and then exchanged, through his lawyer to Min's team Tuesday afternoon, according to assistant special counsel Park Sang-jin.
Park said the luxury gifts, immediately seized by the team, are identical to the valuable items that former Unification Church official surnamed Yun gave to Kim through Jeon between April and July 2022 in return for asking for policy favours on pending church issues.
“We’ll clarify the circumstances surrounding the delivery, return and storage of the seized items in the relevant court trials and ask for additional witnesses,” Park said in a media briefing.
The special counsel team has been tracking the whereabouts of the Graff necklace and Chanel bags since the beginning of its investigation, but has not secured any concrete evidence linking the items toKim. They were not found during the team's raid on Kim's residence and office.
Jeon claimed previously that he had lost the necklace and bags as soon as he received them. But he recently reversed his previous testimony in court, reportedly asserting that the ultimate recipient of the luxury gifts was Kim.
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