South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee has been arrested on corruption charges, marking the first time in the nation's history that both a former president and their spouse are in custody simultaneously. The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant late Tuesday, citing "concerns about evidence destruction," according to Judge Jeong Jae-wook, Yonhap News reported.
Kim, the wife of jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, faces three charges: stock manipulation, illegal political funding, and bribery. Prosecutors allege she made more than 800 million won ($611,000) by conspiring with others to inflate the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a local BMW dealership, between 2009 and 2012. She is also accused of receiving over 270 million won ($206,000) in free opinion polling services to influence candidate selection for the conservative People Power Party in the 2022 by-elections, and of accepting luxury gifts-including Chanel handbags and jewelry-from the Unification Church via a shaman intermediary in exchange for favorable treatment of Cambodian development projects.
The arrest follows a seven-hour interrogation by a special prosecutor team led by Min Joong-ki last week. Kim denied all allegations during a four-and-a-half-hour court hearing, telling the judge she was "upset that even issues from before my marriage keep being brought up."
Yoon, removed from office in April and rearrested in July over his failed attempt to impose martial law in December, has faced accusations that some of his actions in office were aimed at shielding his wife from mounting scandals. While president, Yoon dismissed calls for an investigation into Kim, denouncing them as "baseless political attacks."
The special counsel investigation, launched after liberal President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, covers 16 alleged offenses by Kim, though Tuesday's warrant pertains to only three.
Kim arrived at the Seoul court Tuesday without speaking to reporters and will be detained at Nambu detention center in southern Seoul, separate from Yoon's facility. Once seen as wielding significant influence during her husband's presidency, Kim has been embroiled in multiple controversies, including the Dior bag scandal and the recent revocation of her master's and doctoral degrees for plagiarism.
