South Korea’s First Lady Faces Criticism Over Dior Bag, Stock Manipulation

South Korean law prohibits government officials and their spouses from accepting anything worth more than $750

South Korea’s first lady Kim Keon Hee has been questioned on charges of stock manipulation and corruption in connection with a $2,200 luxury handbag, prosecutors said Sunday.

The questioning comes as the opposition calls for a special investigation into the first lady, who has come under fire for accepting a Dior bag in violation of government ethics rules and for her alleged role in a stock manipulation scheme.

Prosecutors “personally interrogated” Kim on Saturday, the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

Last year, hidden camera footage was released showing Kim accepting a $2,200 designer bag in an act that was later dubbed the “Dior bag scandal” by local newspapers.

The scandal negatively impacted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s already low popularity ratings and led to his party suffering a painful defeat in April, as the party failed to regain a majority in parliament.

Such a gift would violate South Korean law, which prohibits government officials and their associates from accepting anything worth more than $750.

Kim’s aide told investigators earlier this month that the first lady had asked her to return the bag on the same day but she forgot, Yonhap news agency reported.

In his first comments on the bag scandal in February, Yoon dismissed it as a “political scheme” and said his wife had only accepted the bag because she found it difficult to refuse it.

He later apologized at a rare press conference in May, calling it “unwise” for his wife to accept the bag.

It is not the first time that Kim has come under fire from the public. During Yoon’s presidential campaign, she was forced to apologize for falsified credentials.