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Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki speaks after a nameplate unveiling ceremony in front of the special counsel office at KT Gwanghwamun Building in Seoul on July 2. The investigation team is probing various allegations surrounding former First Lady Kim Keon Hee. / Source: Yonhap News (YONHAP NO-2901)

The special counsel investigating First Lady Kim Keon Hee launched a raid on July 14 targeting more than 10 locations including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, over allegations of preferential treatment in the Yangpyeong Expressway project.

Led by special prosecutor Min Jung-ki, the team dispatched investigators to the minister’s office at the government complex in Sejong as well as the offices of Donghae Engineering & Consultants and Kyungdong Engineering Corporation, which were involved in the expressway project. Investigators seized documents and digital files related to the case. Former Land Minister Won Hee-ryong and ruling People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sun-kyo were not included in the search targets.

The allegations center around a route change made during Won’s tenure, which allegedly moved the expressway’s endpoint from Yangseo-myeon to Gangsang-myeon, where property owned by Kim Keon Hee’s family is located, raising suspicions of favoritism.

Rep. Kim, a former Yangpyeong County chief, is believed to have requested the route change to the location of Kim's family land. In July 2023, amid growing controversy over the change, then-Minister Won scrapped the project following discussions with the ruling party.

Prior to the launch of the special counsel, civic groups had filed complaints accusing Won and Rep. Kim of abuse of power, prompting an investigation by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police.

Currently, the special counsel has imposed travel bans on former minister Won, Kim Keon Hee’s mother Choi Eun-soon and her brother, lawmaker Kim, and three high-ranking Yangpyeong County officials.