DP chief's wife denies misuse of husband's official expenses card

Kim Hye-hyung, right, leaves the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi on Monday after the first trial hearing into the allegations against her. [YONHAP]

The wife of liberal Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung denied in court on Monday that she had misused her husband's official expenses credit card during his tenure as Gyeonggi governor.

Kim Hye-kyung characterized the prosecution’s investigation into the allegations as a politically motivated campaign via her lawyer at the first trial hearing of the case at the Suwon District Court.

Prosecutors allege that Kim used Lee’s corporate card to treat three DP officials and six other members of their entourage to a meal at an unspecified restaurant in Seoul on Aug. 2, 2021, in an effort to win their support for her husband’s campaign for the party’s presidential nomination.

Prosecutors also claimed that Kim instructed a level 5 Gyeonggi government official, identified only by the surname Bae, to use Lee’s official expenses card to pay for the meal.

In doing so, Kim used public money to boost her husband’s political prospects, according to prosecutors, who argued that such activity should be considered an illegal political contribution.

While Bae has already been convicted and handed a 10-month suspended prison sentence for misusing public funds in the same case, she has not admitted or testified to being instructed to do so by Kim.

But Kim’s lawyer denied the allegations and claimed she only paid for her own food with the credit card issued by Lee’s campaign, adding that she does not know “who paid for the meals of the other people” who were present at the occasion.

Her lawyer also argued that the prosecution had failed to present evidence that Kim ordered Bae to use Lee’s official expenses card to pay for the meals.

Kim was first accused of using a corporate credit card to bill the provincial government for her private expenses during her husband’s ultimately unsuccessful presidential run in 2022.

She was also accused by a whistleblower within the Gyeonggi provincial government of sending civil servants to run her personal errands, such as picking up prescription medicine and delivering food.

The whistleblower, a level 7 local government employee, claimed that he spent “90 percent of the time” running petty errands for Kim, including picking up medicine for Kim though it was prescribed under another person’s name.

Kim issued a public apology in February 2022 after the allegations surfaced.

Government regulations ban the spouses of local government chiefs from requesting assistance from civil servants for personal activities.

Likewise, the use of government-issued corporate cards for personal expenses is forbidden.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]