S. Korea’s ex-First Lady arrested in corruption probe

First Lady Jill Biden talks with First Lady of the Republic of Korea Mrs. Kim Keon Hee before a State Dinner, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in the Blue Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

By Yonhap, Philippine News Agency

SEOUL – Former First Lady Kim Keon Hee has been arrested on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, election meddling, and bribery, making her and her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the first former presidential couple to be detained simultaneously.

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant against her late Tuesday, citing concerns she could destroy evidence, after special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team requested it last week on charges of violating the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act, and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation.

During Tuesday’s hearing prior to her arrest, special prosecutors emphasized the risks of her destroying evidence, while her lawyers argued that he had cooperated with questioning and was in poor health.

Kim faces charges of participating in a stock price manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009 to 2012, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favors.

She apologized while appearing for questioning by the special counsel team last Wednesday, calling herself “a nobody” who has caused concern to the people.

During the interrogation, however, she reportedly denied all the charges.

The special counsel’s investigation targets a total of 16 criminal allegations against the former first lady, including suspicions that the endpoint of an expressway project was changed to where her family owns land in Yangpyeong, just east of Seoul, and that her family received preferential treatment in an apartment construction project in the county.

Obtaining the warrant is expected to help the team home in on those allegations as well.

Kim was initially scheduled to be taken to Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, just south of the capital, but the special prosecutors applied for a change to Seoul Southern Detention Center at the request of the Uiwang facility, where Yoon is currently held over his failed attempt to impose martial law in December.

The court accepted the request.