First Lady Kim Keon-hee was found to have told the prosecution that she had accepted cosmetic products gifted by pastor Choi Jae-young because she thought they were bought from a discount store. 

According to the legal circle on Tuesday, Kim gave such testimony during questioning by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on allegations that she received a luxury bag from Choi in September 2022 in violation of the anti-graft law. 

Kim was found to have received the cosmetic products, worth some one-point-eight million won, or around 13-hundred U.S. dollars, in June 2022. 

The first lady also reportedly told prosecutors that she felt a sense of closeness when Choi told her in January 2022 that his hometown is Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province just like Kim. 

On the luxury bag that Choi gave her, Kim maintained that the gift was not work-related and had ordered her staff to return it to Choi but the bag was stored after the staff member failed to return it by mistake.