By Saadet Gokce
ISTANBUL (AA) - South Korean prosecutors and investigators raided the National Educational Commission on Friday over bribery allegations involving its incumbent chief Lee Bae-yong and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team raided the authority to secure possible evidence on suspicion that Lee was made chief of the commission after giving a gift to Kim.
The investigation into Lee began after the special counsel discovered a golden turtle weighing 10 don (37.5 grams) and a letter allegedly written by Lee to former President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim discovered during a separate search of Kim’s mother’s home.
The team believes the turtle was given to Kim for Lee’s appointment as the commission’s first head in September 2022.
Lee offered to resign on Monday, a few days after a raid on her residence.
The team also conducted a raid on the Presidential Security Service earlier in the day to obtain “materials relevant to the ongoing probe.”