South Korea's ex-First Lady to face questioning after corruption arrest

Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the country's former first lady, is scheduled to face questioning by a special counsel team on Thursday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

This comes less than 48 hours after her arrest on corruption charges, when the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday, citing concerns that she might destroy evidence. 

 

Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team summoned Kim to appear at the KT Gwanghwamun West building in central Seoul at 10 am Thursday for her first questioning since being taken into custody, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The Seoul Southern Detention Centre, where Kim is being held, said she intends to comply with the summons. A justice ministry prison van is expected to transport her to the office. 

 

Kim is accused of taking part in a scheme to manipulate the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealership in South Korea, between 2009 and 2012 and also allegedly interfered in candidate selections for the 2022 by-elections and the 2024 general elections and is suspected of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church--via a shaman--in return for business favours, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Last week, she apologised during questioning, calling herself "a nobody" who had caused public concern, though she denied all the accusations during the investigation. 

 

The special counsel is currently examining 16 charges in total, including claims that the endpoint of a motorway was rerouted to benefit her family's land holdings in Yangpyeong, east of Seoul, and that her family was favoured in a local apartment development, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Min's team had requested the warrant on charges of violations of the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation. 

 

Kim's arrest made her and her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the first presidential couple to be detained simultaneously.

Yoon is under arrest at a different detention centre over charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law in December.