Prosecutors dismiss Kim Gun-hee and Choi Jae-young without charge... object to "immediately appeal"

[Anchor]
The prosecution, which has been investigating allegations of receiving luxury bags by First Lady Kim Gun-hee, has decided not to indict all officials, including First Lady Kim and Pastor Choi Jae-young.

Seoul's Sound, which accused the case, said it could not understand the prosecution's logic, and said it would appeal to the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office and apply for a ruling to the court.

I'm connecting with the reporter, reporter Kim Cheol-hee!

[Reporter]
Yes, this is the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.

[Anchor]
The prosecution cleared all those involved in the case.

[Reporter]
Yes, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 1 indicted all five officials, including President Yoon Suk Yeol, First Lady Kim Gun-hee, Pastor Choi Jae-young, and Seoul Sound CEO Baek Eun-jong, in connection with the luxury bag case.

The investigation team first decided that they could not charge President Yoon and his wife with violating the anti-graft law.

Although the Solicitation Prohibition Act prohibits spouses of public officials from receiving money and goods related to their duties,
There is no separate punishment regulation for
, so Mrs. Kim cannot be punished.

In addition, Kim's gift was only used to maintain friendly relations or obtain interview opportunities and had nothing to do with the president's duties.

The prosecution believes that the president, who is not obligated to report, cannot be held accountable because his spouse has not received any work-related items.

It was judged that there were no charges of bribery or meddling, violation of the Lawyers Act, destruction of evidence, and abuse of authority.

[Anchor]
In the case of Pastor Choi Jae-young, the Investigation and Deliberation Committee recommended prosecution, but again, he was not prosecuted.

[Reporter]
Yes, so far, the prosecution has been reviewing whether Pastor Choi can be charged with violating the anti-graft law, invading houses, and obstructing the execution of public affairs.

However, as explained earlier, Pastor Choi's handing over a luxury bag is not related to the president's duties, so it was judged that there was no violation of the anti-graft law.

In addition, since I met Ms. Kim by coordinating the schedule in advance, I concluded that there was no crime of home invasion.

He was also cleared of obstruction of public affairs, saying that the failure to filter out Pastor Choi's "secret camera" was due to insufficient inspection.

This conclusion is different from the recommendation of Pastor Choi's Investigation Review Committee to indict Pastor Choi on charges of violating the anti-graft law.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government protested that it would proceed with the appeal to get a proper judgment, as it could not understand the prosecution's judgment at all.

Apart from this, he added that he will also proceed with the process of applying for a ruling, directly asking the court whether the prosecution's decision to not prosecute is reasonable.

Conscious of this controversy, the Central District Prosecutors' Office reviewed whether criminal responsibility could be held according to evidence and legal principles without any other consideration,
It was emphasized that all the
investigation team concluded with a consensus.

However, since it is the first time since the introduction of the system in 2018 that the prosecution has not followed the "prosecution recommendation" of the committee, the controversy is expected to continue for a while after the disposition.

So far, at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, I'm Kim Chul-hee of YTN.