Special Prosecutor's Team Conducts First On-Site Investigation into Kim Geon-hee's Allegations

On July 3, 2025, the special prosecutor's team led by Min Jung-ki began an on-site investigation into allegations surrounding Kim Geon-hee, the spouse of former President Yoon Seok-yeol. The team executed a search warrant at the headquarters of Samboo Construction in Jongno-gu, Seoul, marking the first on-site search among the ongoing investigations into allegations of insurrection, Kim Geon-hee, and Marine Corps members.

The special prosecutor's team announced in the morning that they had initiated a search of Samboo Construction and related suspects. The search targeted 13 locations, including the company's headquarters, associated firms implicated in stock manipulation, and the residence of former chairman Cho Sung-ok. The allegations of stock manipulation involving Samboo Construction are among 16 issues under investigation by the special prosecutor, with little prior investigation conducted by the prosecution. Given the special prosecutor's mandate to conclude investigations within 150 days, the team appears to have prioritized the slow-moving Samboo Construction case as their first target.

The stock manipulation allegations surfaced last July when conversations from a KakaoTalk group chat involving Lee Jong-ho, the former head of Black Pearl Investment, were made public. Lee, who managed Kim Geon-hee's accounts during the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, had sent a message on May 14, 2023, stating, "Check Samboo tomorrow." This revelation led to suspicions from the ruling Democratic Party and others that both Lee and Kim Geon-hee might have been involved in the stock manipulation of Samboo Construction.

Subsequent investigations by the Financial Supervisory Service revealed that Samboo Construction had no intention or capability to participate in Ukraine's reconstruction efforts, yet it repeatedly signed formal memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Ukrainian construction firms to artificially inflate its stock price. In April, the Financial Services Commission reported former chairman Cho Sung-ok and others to the prosecution for allegedly manipulating stock prices and gaining unjust profits amounting to hundreds of billions of won. However, they did not include Kim Geon-hee or Lee Jong-ho in the charges due to a lack of direct evidence against them.

The special prosecutor's team suspects that Kim Geon-hee may have been involved in the stock manipulation through her connection with Lee. Notably, just two days after Lee's message, on May 16, 2023, former President Yoon Seok-yeol and his wife met with Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska, and the following day, the government pledged support for Ukraine's reconstruction using external cooperation funds. Five days later, on May 22, then-Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong and Samboo Construction representatives attended the Ukraine Global Reconstruction Forum in Poland. The day after, on May 23, Samboo Construction publicly announced MOUs related to reconstruction projects with Mariupol in Ukraine and Polish construction firms, resulting in a dramatic increase in its stock price from around 1,000 won to over 5,500 won per share.

Samboo Construction, a mid-sized construction firm, has faced ongoing scrutiny due to its long-standing ties with the Yoon family. In July 2021, a diary belonging to the late founder of Samboo Construction, Cho Nam-wook, was revealed, documenting his golfing and gift exchanges with Yoon Seok-yeol around 2010, indicating a friendship dating back to Yoon's time as a prosecutor. The diary also noted multiple communications and gifts exchanged with Kim Geon-hee, whose name was Kim Myung-sin before her marriage.

The Democratic Party has raised questions about whether Yoon exerted influence during the 2011 investigation into Samboo Construction's executives for breach of trust. Yoon has denied any involvement in the investigation, stating that while he knew Cho, he had no influence over any investigations.

Cho Nam-wook reportedly stepped back from management in 2017, transferring ownership to Cho Sung-ok, who is not related to him despite sharing the same surname. There are allegations that Lee Jong-ho, a close associate of Kim Geon-hee, played a role in the transfer of Samboo Construction to Cho Sung-ok. A legal expert noted that despite various allegations, investigations into Samboo Construction have not been thorough, suggesting that the special prosecutor's team will focus their efforts on this case.