SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's former President Yoon Suk-yeol was indicted on charges of violating the anti-graft law, following additional investigations into a luxury bag scandal involving his wife, according to Yonhap news agency on Thursday.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office formally charged Yoon with failing to fulfill his official reporting duty under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, despite knowing that his wife, Kim Keon-hee, had accepted high-priced gifts.
Kim was accused of accepting a luxury handbag valued at 3 million won (2,170 U.S. dollars), a cosmetics set worth 1.79 million won and premium liquor worth 400,000 won from a pastor between June and September 2022.
The prosecution initially dropped all charges against the couple in October 2024, but the case was reopened under a special counsel probe targeting Yoon's wife.
A special police task force in charge of independent counsel referrals forwarded the case back to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment in June.
Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February for the insurrection stemming from his martial law declaration.
The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.
He was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted. ■
