(Bloomberg) -- South Korean prosecutors questioned President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife for the first time over allegations of receiving a luxury handbag as a gift and of stock manipulation, Yonhap News Agency reported.
First Lady Kim Keon Hee was summoned to a government security building on Saturday and her questioning lasted for about 12 hours, Yonhap said, citing the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Details of the investigation haven’t been disclosed, the report said.
Kim’s lawyer told Yonhap she responded to the questioning in a “sincere manner and told the truth.”
A secretly recorded video surfaced several months ago that purportedly showed Kim receiving a Dior handbag in 2022. Yoon and his wife have denied any wrongdoing, and the president has said the bag was part of a “political maneuver.”
Yoon’s disapproval rating hit its highest in about nine months earlier this year as questions over the handbag escalated. He apologized for the first time over the issue at the news conference in May.
The main opposition Democratic Party had also accused Kim of stock manipulation in 2010 and 2011, which she and the presidential office have denied. Yoon vetoed a bill passed by the opposition late last year calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the first lady’s share dealings.
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