Kim Keon Hee’s Mother and Older Brother Reappear Before Special Prosecutor... Remain Silent

[Financial News] The mother and older brother of Kim Keon Hee are being summoned for a second round of questioning regarding allegations of preferential treatment during the development of the Yangpyeong Gongheung District.
Choi Eun-soon, Kim Keon Hee’s mother, and her older brother Kim Jin-woo appeared on the 11th at the office of the Special Prosecutor Kim Kun-hee (headed by Min Joong-ki), located in the KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul. They are suspects in the Yangpyeong Gongheung District development favoritism case, accused of causing losses to the national treasury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
The two had already been questioned once regarding the allegations on the 4th, but were summoned again due to the need to investigate not only these allegations but also several other suspicions.
Choi Eun-soon did not answer reporters’ questions such as, "Why was the golden turtle received by Kim Keon Hee kept at the nursing home?", "Did you personally deliver the letter from former National Education Commission Chair Lee Bae-yong or the police personnel documents?", and "Why was not a single won paid for the development charges in the Gongheung District?"
Kim Jin-woo also entered the building without responding to questions like, "Why did you move Lee Ufan’s paintings and luxury goods to your mother-in-law’s house?", "Did you personally deliver the letter from the former chair or the police personnel documents?", and "How did you avoid paying the development charges for the Gongheung District?"
The 'Yangpyeong Gongheung District favoritism allegations' center on suspicions that ESI&D, a company owned by Kim Keon Hee’s family, received preferential treatment during the urban development project in the Gongheung-ri area of Yangpyeong County from 2011 to 2016. The allegations claim that the county did not impose development charges and retroactively extended the project deadline. Choi Eun-soon served as CEO of ESI&D until 2014, after which Kim Jin-woo took over as the new CEO and is believed to have exercised de facto management control.
Kim Keon Hee also served as an internal director at the company for a period. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division, Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, which investigated the case, referred Kim Jin-woo and four other company officials to the prosecution in May 2023 with a recommendation for indictment, but decided not to refer Choi Eun-soon and Kim Keon Hee, citing a lack of evidence of their involvement.
Additionally, both are under investigation for alleged destruction of evidence. The special prosecutor’s team discovered police personnel lists while searching the nursing home operated by Choi Eun-soon in connection with the Gongheung District allegations. As these items were not included in the original search warrant, investigators only photographed them and left, later obtaining a new warrant to conduct a second search. However, by then, the documents had disappeared. The special prosecutor suspects that the Kim Keon Hee family deliberately destroyed evidence and has launched an investigation.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter