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Police reaffirms decision to clear ex-first lady Kim Jung-sook of allegations that she used gov't funds for clothes

Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 21:35

Then-President Moon Jae-in, left, and then-first lady Kim Jung-sook disembark from Air Force One at Gardermoen Air Base in Oslo on June 11, 2019, during their state visit to three Nordic countries. This marks the first-ever state visit to Norway by a Korean president. [YONHAP]

Police have reaffirmed their decision to clear former first lady Kim Jung-sook of allegations that she used government funds to pay for clothing, despite a request from prosecutors to reopen the investigation.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s anticorruption unit recently decided not to forward the case for prosecution, reaffirming its earlier conclusion that there was not enough evidence against Kim, police said on Thursday. This comes three months after prosecutors requested the investigation be reopened.

The case centers on whether approximately 80 outfits worn by Kim between 2017 and 2022 — during her husband Moon Jae-in’s presidency — were paid for with government funds. A civic group filed a complaint against her in 2022.

Police questioned staff from clothing boutiques and officials from the Blue House, and they even raided the Presidential Archives under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety during the investigation.

Though they found indications that some of the payments were made with bundles of new banknotes, often used for official disbursements, they were unable to find evidence that directly linked the payments to withdrawals from government fund accounts.

Over the course of the investigation's three years and five months, police did not subpoena Kim or obtain a warrant to search her financial records.

In July last year, police concluded that there was insufficient evidence to press charges. However, that October, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office responded by saying, “While the decision not to indict may be reasonable at this stage, the individual in question should at least have the opportunity to explain themselves,” and asked the police to investigate further.

“We thoroughly reviewed the presidential records and conducted extensive interviews, but after reinvestigation, we reached the same conclusion: There is not enough specific evidence to support the claims,” a police official said.

At the time the allegations first emerged, the Blue House stated that “no government funds were ever budgeted or used for clothing purchases, and all expenses were covered personally.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]