A special counsel team investigating allegations involving former first lady Kim Keon-hee has obtained a piece of high-end jewelry she is suspected of wearing during an overseas trip with former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

KBS has learned that the team seized a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace worth 62 million won, or around 45-thousand U.S. dollars, while raiding the home of an in-law of Kim's brother, Kim Jin-woo, on Friday.

The former first lady came under fire after she was spotted wearing the necklace and a Cartier bracelet valued at 15 million won while accompanying her husband to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) summit in June 2022.
 
Under the Public Service Ethics Act, public officials are required to report jewelry valued at five million won or more, but these items had not been disclosed.

The presidential office at the time claimed that two of the pieces were borrowed from an acquaintance, while a third item was purchased from a small business owner for under five million won.

However, in written testimony to prosecutors in May, Kim stated that the two items she had previously said were borrowed were actually counterfeit pieces purchased abroad.

The special team has been investigating whether Kim had personally benefited by exploiting the former president’s position.