Police raid ACRC over 'Kim Keon-hee luxury bag case closure'... investigating abuse of power allegations

[Financial News] Police have launched a compulsory investigation to determine allegations of abuse of power raised over the ACRC's handling of the case involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee's alleged receipt of a luxury handbag.
The Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, which is handling cases transferred from the three special prosecutors' teams, said on the 20th that it was carrying out searches and seizures in connection with allegations that former ACRC Chair Yoo Cheol-hwan and former Vice Chair Jeong Seung-yun abused their authority and obstructed the exercise of rights.
The special investigation team searched the residence of former Vice Chair Jeong from 12:10 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the 15th. It is also conducting searches at the offices of former Chair Yoo and former Vice Chair Jeong starting at 11 a.m. that day.
The raid is aimed at reviewing how the ACRC closed the 2024 case involving allegations that Kim received a luxury handbag. At the time, the commission said the case was closed because it was unrelated to the president's official duties and, even if it were related, gifts received by the president's spouse were managed as presidential records and therefore did not require reporting.
Later, the task force pushing for the ACRC's normalization concluded that there were procedural problems in the handling of the case and requested an investigation by the National Office of Investigation. Police are continuing the probe by combining the related cases transferred from the special prosecutors with the case referred by the ACRC.
[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter