The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission(ACRC) has decided to close the case surrounding suspicions over a luxury bag that First Lady Kim Keon-hee received in 2022, saying it found no violations of the Anti-graft Act. 

The commission’s vice chair and secretary-general Chung Seung-yun said in a briefing on Monday that the commission decided to close the case as the anti-graft law does not include regulations sanctioning the spouses of public servants. 

On December 19 of last year, the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy filed a complaint with the commission against President Yoon Suk Yeol and the first lady for violating the Anti-graft Act.

The group accused Kim of violating the anti-bribery law and the president of violating the same law and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials for failing to report that his wife had received a designer label bag. 

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, meanwhile, continues to investigate suspicions surrounding the luxury bag since Voice of Seoul, an internet news outlet, filed a complaint against the president and the first lady on alleged violations of the anti-graft law in December.