Civic group files complaint against anti-corruption chief for dropping inquiry into luxury bag scandal

A civic group filed a complaint Monday against the chief of the state anti-corruption watchdog on charges of dereliction of duty after the agency dropped an inquiry into a luxury bag scandal involving first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Last week, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission closed its inquiry into the allegations that Kim accepted a luxury handbag as a gift in 2022, citing the absence of rules on punishing a public official's spouse under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

The decision has since drawn a firestorm of criticism.

On Monday, a civic group, known as the "National Action for Judicial Justice" in Korean, filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, accusing Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Chairperson Ryu Chul-whan on charges of dereliction of duty.

The group claimed that the watchdog "made a hard-to-understand decision" to close the case without any written or face-to-face questioning and that the decision amounts to totally disregarding the purposes of the anti-graft law.

The group also filed a complaint against President Yoon Suk Yeol and the first lady on charges of accepting bribery, violating the anti-graft act and the Public Service Ethics Act.

The luxury bag scandal has dealt a blow to Yoon since 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.

The anti-corruption commission began the inquiry into the scandal after a major civic group filed a complaint against Yoon, the first lady and the pastor in December on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

After nearly six months of deliberation, the commission decided to close the case last week. (Yonhap)