Former First Lady Kim Keon Hee is detained by South Korea as part of an investigation into former President Yoon’s scandal-plagued presidency
Kim Keon Hee is the first First Lady of South Korea to be arrested as prosecutors look into allegations of bribery, corruption, and electoral involvement.
The wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Keon Hee, was arrested late Tuesday night by South Korean police in a historic political scandal as part of a growing special investigation into power abuse and corruption during Yoon’s term.
Citing worries that Kim would tamper with the evidence, the Seoul Central District Court granted the special prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant just before midnight. Her spouse was arrested again in July and is still in prison elsewhere, while she will be detained in a detention center in southern Seoul.
As a result of Yoon’s turbulent departure from office in April after a failed and hurried martial law order, Kim’s imprisonment intensifies the impact from the first time a South Korean presidential pair has been arrested simultaneously on criminal charges.
Under the direction of Prosecutor Min Joong-ki, the special investigation is pursuing a number of accusations against Kim, such as bribery, stock manipulation, and unlawfully influencing party primaries. She is suspected of collaborating with Yoon to influence the 2022 candidate selection process for the conservative People Power Party at the purported request of political fixer Myung Tae-kyun.
Myung is accused by the prosecution of aiding in the manipulation of internal polling to improve Yoon’s chances of winning the presidential primary. Myung is also charged with conducting unlawful, manipulated opinion polls that favored Yoon.
Kim is also under investigation for his suspected involvement in a stock manipulation scheme involving a BMW dealership and for allegedly getting luxury goods through a fortune teller connected to a Unification Church official requesting government favors.
Amidst a political impasse with the then-opposition liberal majority, President Yoon, who had previously advocated for anti-corruption reforms, was ousted from power in April following an unexpected imposition of martial law. Following a lengthy history of disgraced presidencies in South Korea, his acts were immediately condemned and resulted in his imprisonment last month.
Supporters of Yoon assert that the liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung, who named Prosecutor Min in June, is using the legal system as a tool for political retaliation. Critics counter that the former president and first lady must be held fully accountable due to the severity and veracity of the accusations made against them.
When questioned by prosecutors for the first time last week, Kim gave a quick, evasive apology but refrained from speaking publicly on Tuesday. “Someone insignificant,” she said, implying that she intended to refute the accusations. Yoon had rejected probes into his wife while he was in power, claiming the mounting accusations were driven by politics.
The arrest warrant’s issuance by the court marks a dramatic change in the legal landscape for South Korea’s former governing couple.
Kim is anticipated to stay in detention until official indictments are being written. Next month, Yoon’s sentencing hearings for his attempted martial law order and other campaign misconduct accusations are set.
