Civic group files complaint with anti-corruption agency again over luxury bag scandal

A civic group filed a complaint with the state anti-corruption agency Thursday for the second time over a luxury bag scandal involving first lady Kim Keon Hee after the case was dropped last month.

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy filed the complaint, which included additional evidence of the first lady receiving high-end perfumes and expensive liquors from a Korean American pastor, with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

"Since the complaint last year, additional gifts that the pastor handed over to the first lady were disclosed, along with the details of the favors sought" from the first lady, the civic group said during a press conference.

The luxury bag scandal has come to the fore after a video surfaced last year of the first lady receiving the Dior handbag, valued at around 3 million won ($2,200), from a Korean American pastor armed with a hidden camera in September 2022.

After nearly six months of deliberation, the commission decided to close the case last month, citing the absence of rules on punishing a public official's spouse. (Yonhap)