The special prosecutors investigating the relocation of the presidential residence under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration have charged four individuals, including Kim Dae-ki, the former chief of staff, and Lee Sang-min, the former Minister of the Interior and Safety.
On June 9, the second special prosecutor team, led by Kwon Chang-young, announced that they have indicted Kim Dae-ki and Yoon Jae-soon, the former presidential secretary for general affairs, on charges of abuse of power, while Lee Sang-min and Kim O-jin, the former presidential secretary for management, were indicted without detention. This marks the first indictment since the special prosecutor's office was established on February 25.
The four are accused of misappropriating a budget of 2.09 billion won (approximately $1.6 million) to pay for construction work by 21 Gram, a company not qualified for work on the presidential residence, from May to July 2022. They allegedly directed government officials from the Government Buildings Management Office and the Ministry of Economy and Finance to approve and execute the budget misappropriation without objective justification.
Kim Dae-ki is also facing charges for falsifying and executing a cooperation request document under the name of the presidential office to create the appearance of a separate remodeling project to secure additional funding.
The investigation revealed that the accused ignored opposition from officials at relevant agencies and directed illegal budget reallocations while attempting to evade responsibility by making it seem as if the reallocations were made independently by each agency. They also publicly announced that the construction would be completed using contingency funds.
Additionally, it was found that they retaliated against a manager from the Government Buildings Management Office who opposed the illegal budget reallocations.
Jin Eul-jong, the special prosecutor, stated, "We are currently conducting additional investigations into collusion related to the illegal budget reallocations and will do our utmost to clarify the public concerns raised regarding the presidential residence during the remaining investigation period."
The special prosecutor's team is also looking into allegations of involvement by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the illegal budget reallocations. On June 8, they conducted searches at the residences of four individuals, including the former head of the Budget Office and the former economic and financial secretary to the president.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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