hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol takes the oath of office during his inauguration ceremony on May 10, 2022. (pool photo)

An individual surnamed Kim who was convicted alongside South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s mother-in-law on charges of forging a bank balance certificate was invited to Yoon’s inauguration ceremony on May 10 at the recommendation of first lady Kim Keon-hee, it has been learned.

Also confirmed to have been invited to the ceremony were the wife of former Deutsch Motors Chairperson Kwon Oh-soo and the company’s vice president. Deutsch Motors has been the subject of allegations of stock price manipulation in which Kim Keon-hee has been implicated.

On Tuesday, the Hankyoreh acquired a list of people invited to Yoon’s inauguration ceremony. Mr. Kim and his wife, identified by the surname Jeong, were listed among those invited to attend the ceremony at the National Assembly at the “first lady’s recommendation.”

Mr. Kim was previously referred for trial on charges of helping Yoon’s mother-in-law, surnamed Choi, in forging a balance certificate for Shinhan Savings Bank in the amount of 34.7 billion won (US$26.47 million) during Choi’s purchase of land in Dochon, a neighborhood in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. In December 2021, Mr. Kim was sentenced by the Uijeongbu District Court to six years in prison, with a two-year suspension of execution.

The forgery case involved the falsification of a balance certificate to give the appearance of a large deposit balance at the bank in question for the purposes of Choi’s Dochon land purchase. Choi was sentenced to one year in prison on the same charges.

Mr. Kim is also close with Kim Keon-hee, the wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol. He completed an executive MBA program at Seoul National University with her in 2011 and worked between 2012 and 2015 as an auditor at Covana Contents, a company that she ran.

Attending the ceremony with Mr. Kim at Kim Keon-hee’s recommendation was an individual surnamed Cho who is the president of a rental car company. Mr. Kim was a registered director at the rental car company, which acquired a corporation where Kim Keon-hee was registered as an inside director.

Mr. Kim and Cho were also on the list of supporters contributing large amounts to Yoon’s campaign as a prospective presidential candidate last year, having given 10 million won (US$7,630) each.

Previously, it was learned that the attendees at the presidential inauguration ceremony included Kwon Hyeok-min, whose father Kwon Oh-soo was formerly chairman of Deutsch Motors, which is currently being investigated by prosecutors over alleged stock price manipulation. The attendee list acquired by the Hankyoreh showed that Kwon Oh-soo’s wife, surnamed An, and the company’s vice president, surnamed Oh, were also present at the ceremony.

This means that several key figures from Deutsch Motors — where Kim Keon-hee has been implicated in allegations of stock price manipulation — were invited to the ceremony at her recommendation.

Kwon Oh-soo was arrested and indicted in December on charges of conspiring with stock price manipulators to inflate Deutsch Motor share prices. He was released on bail in April.

When Kwon was indicted, prosecutors had obliquely mentioned Kim Keon-hee, who was then under suspicion of providing funds and stock to be used in stock price manipulation. “We are continuing to investigate the potential involvement of major figures who are under public suspicion,” prosecutors said at the time.

The Hankyoreh was unable to reach most of the people who had been invited to the inauguration on the first lady’s recommendation. However, reporters were able to get in touch with Mr. Kim, the individual convicted for forgery alongside Yoon’s mother-in-law, and Cho, president of the rental car company.

“I’ve lost many things and already been punished enough on a personal level for this incident involving the criminal law. I’d rather not be compelled to undergo any more personal sacrifices because of political issues,” Mr. Kim said.

“I didn’t receive an invitation, and I obviously didn’t attend,” Cho said.

But former members of the presidential transition committee said that because the list of invitees was drafted after confirming whether the individuals in question planned to intend the inauguration, the people who appeared on the final version of the list had to have known they’d been invited.

When the Hankyoreh asked whether it was appropriate for people under investigation or on trial for criminal charges connected with the first lady’s family to be invited to the inauguration, an official from the presidential office said they couldn’t confirm whether the people on the list had actually been invited.

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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