(Bloomberg) -- South Korean prosecutors have decided not to charge the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol over the receipt of a luxury handbag under questionable circumstances, ending a probe that had roiled the ruling party.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office concluded that there is no direct link between Yoon’s duties and First Lady Kim Keon Hee accepting the bag from a pastor, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday. They found no evidence that favors were offered in return, the statement added.
The investigation into the first lady was opened in May after a secretly recorded video surfaced that showed her accepting a 3 million won ($2,275) Christian Dior bag as gift. The handbag episode in late 2022 touched off a political firestorm when the video surfaced, with Yoon’s political opponents accusing Kim of corruption.
The video was reportedly shot by a pastor, Choi Jae-young, who has sought a softening of the president’s tough stance toward North Korea.
Kim was questioned for about 12 hours in July, putting spotlight back on the incident that had dented support for the government. It was also the first time a sitting first lady had been summoned for questioning as part of a probe.
The incident revived memories of past “pay-to-play” scandals where people used their access to power for personal gain.
Yoon and Kim have denied any wrongdoing and the president apologized in May for causing concern to the public for his wife’s “unwise behavior.”
The bag appears set to become part of national property, with it either being auctioned off for cash that will go to the treasury or being stored as a part of the presidential records for the Yoon government, according to the JoongAng newspaper.
--With assistance from Soo Jin Kim.
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