Allegations of misusing taxpayers' money

Controversy over Korean First Lady's clothing expenses

South Korean first lady.

archival

There has been extensive debate in South Korea over the expenditure of clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories for the first lady, Kim Jong-suk, over the past five years.

Some accuse Kim and the presidential office of abusing their power, spending billions of won (South Korean currency) in taxpayers' money, on rare and fashionable items for Kim during her husband, current president Moon Jae-in's five-year tenure, and called the Blue House the "Presidential Palace". Discloses information about the expenses of the first lady not included in the records.

The Korea Taxpayers Association, a local civic group, submitted a request to the Blue Palace in 2018 to release information about the amount of unofficial expenditures of the Moon administration, including the amount the administration spent on covert operations and spending protocol, for Kim's private activities.

Special activity expenditures are expenditures from the authorized budget of the National Intelligence Service, the Public Prosecution Office, and other key government agencies in carrying out intelligence operations.

The Presidential Office is also entitled to use private activity expenditures for intelligence operations.

However, since details of expenditures for private activities were not publicly disclosed after use, the civic group suspected that the palace administration was abusing its purchasing responsibility.

She alleges that Kim bought expensive clothes and accessories, taking advantage of her husband's presidential power.

refusal to disclose

The presidential office rejected the civic group's request to disclose those expenditures soon after the request was submitted, saying that disclosure might undermine the public interest.

The Korea Taxpayers Association responded by filing a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court the same year to overturn the decision.

The court earlier this month ruled in favor of the civilian group, but the office of the presidency appealed the ruling, repeating its earlier message that the disclosure might undermine the public interest.

"Citizens are concerned about how much of the national budget has been used to buy clothes for the president and first lady, and food purchased for cabinet meetings," the Korea Taxpayers Association said in a statement.

imitation jewelry

Over the course of five years, Kim has been seen wearing a variety of clothes, jewelry and accessories, many of which are suspected to be rare and specially designed by famous fashion designers.

Moon and Kim supporters have refuted the claim, saying many of them appear to be fakes.

The criticism appears to be particularly harsh on the Moon administration, where his party has been at the forefront of critics of former president Park Geun-hye, who was impeached for buying expensive clothes during her presidency.

The DPRK claimed in a 2016 commentary that Park was suspected of having spent 740 million won ($603,700) on clothes over the four years she was president.

The Moon administration rose to power after Park's impeachment, after which it pledged to increase transparency in an effort to combat corruption and incompetence.

While the amount of expenditures for private activities incurred by the government has been reduced from 800 billion won annually during the Park administration to 300 billion won annually during the current administration, how the money will be spent on activities has remained undisclosed to the public.

• For five years, Kim has been seen wearing a variety of clothes, jewelry and accessories, many of which are suspected to be rare and specially designed by famous fashion designers.

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