Prosecutors summon former Korean ambassador to India over former first lady's trip allegations

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Prosecutors summon former Korean ambassador to India over former first lady's trip allegations

Published: 06 Nov. 2024, 17:27 Updated: 06 Nov. 2024, 17:33

CHO JUNG-WOO
cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

In this photo taken on Nov. 7, 2018, then-first lady Kim Jung-sook, second from left, smiles as she poses for a photograph in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India alongside then-Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan, second from right. Shin Bong-kil, Korea's ambassador to India at the time, is on the far right, while his wife Hwang Mee-sook sits on the far left. [BLUE HOUSE]

Prosecutors on Wednesday summoned a former Korean ambassador to India as part of an investigation into suspicions that the former first lady abused her position to make a solo trip to India during the presidency of her husband Moon Jae-in.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office summoned Shin Bong-kil, a former Korean ambassador to India who accompanied then-first lady Kim Jung-sook on her visit to the country in 2018, to question him about the circumstances of her solo trip and how he was informed of her itinerary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shin — who served as Korea's ambassador to India from 2018 to 2021 — officially accompanied Kim on her four-day visit to India in November 2018.

The investigation began in December last year following a report by Lee Jong-bae, a Seoul city council member from the conservative People Power Party (PPP), that Kim "invited herself on a government trip" at taxpayers' expense, allegedly using 400 million won ($287,000) in public funds.

Prosecutors have since broadened their investigation, questioning officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Foreign Ministry and the Korean Embassy in India.

In his memoir published in May, former President Moon Jae-in described the visit as the “first instance of independent diplomacy” by a first lady, emphasizing that it was an official diplomatic activity following an invitation from the Indian government.

However, PPP Rep. Bae Hyun-jin disputed Moon’s remarks, asserting that the visit was a “self-invited” one, with Korea’s Foreign Ministry having asked India to extend an invitation to Kim and designating her as a “special delegate” for the trip.

The PPP lawmaker added that the former first lady also visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, which was not part of the official itinerary.

Former Korean Ambassador to India Shin Bong-kil speaks at a lecture on diplomacy held in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 28, 2023. [NEWS1]

The Foreign Ministry said that “the Indian government invited the culture minister” at the time, and it informed India that they were considering having the first lady accompany him as part of the minister’s delegation.

According to PPP Rep. Park Soo-young in June, documents sent from the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the Foreign Ministry showed the trip to India was initially organized for then-Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan, but was later substantially altered to accommodate Kim’s visit to the country around the same time.

In the original itinerary included in the Culture Ministry’s request for logistical assistance from the Foreign Ministry, Do was scheduled to take a flight to Delhi on Nov. 4, 2018, and return to Seoul on Nov. 7.

However, according to Park, the Blue House requested and obtained Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation for Kim on Oct. 26, creating a pretext for her to travel alongside Do.

Alongside the controversy over her solo trip to India, prosecutors are investigating allegations that a Chanel jacket worn by the former first lady during a 2018 state visit to France was not returned to the fashion house.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]