Anti-Corruption Officer Leading Probe Against South Korea’s First Lady Found Dead

On Thursday, August 8, KST, a senior official of South Korea’s state-run Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The official had led high-profile and politically sensitive investigations involving bigwigs like First Lady Kim Keon Hee and the former opposition leader, Lee Jae Myung.

The officer, Mr. Kim, was found dead in his apartment in Sejong city at around 9:50 am on Thursday. His body was discovered by a person who showed up at his house after he had failed to report to work and was unreachable through phone calls as well. A suicide note was found with the deceased.

As the acting director of the ACRC’s anti-corruption bureau, Kim oversaw multiple investigations until recently. He was in charge of investigating opposition leader Lee Jae Myung’s use of a helicopter after he was attacked with a knife in January. He was also involved in the investigation against First Lady Kim Keon Hee in her infamous luxury handbag scandal.

The first lady was accused of improperly receiving a Christian Dior luxury handbag worth ₩3.00 million KRW (about $2,190 USD) through improper means. ACRC’s probe into these allegations was closed in June when it decided that the incident did not violate the anti-graft act since there was no punishment clause for the spouses of public officials.

Despite the outcome, the investigation itself had put the deceased official under great pressure. JTBC reported that he had recently disclosed to a friend over a phone call that senior ACRC officials were pressurizing him to close the case despite his reservations against it. I have stated, ““I felt immense psychological pressure.”

On August 6, two days before his death, Kim sat Kakao Talk message to an acquaintance saying he was feeling ““psychologically overwhelmed” and apologized for having ““disappointed recently.” He had also appeared at a parliamentary hearing last month to answer questions from legislators.

According to reports, the friends and acquaintances of Mr. Kim at his funeral claimed that his death was caused by the investigation into the First Lady’s luxury handbag scandal. The police are probing into the exact circumstances of his death.