Wife of South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon arrested over corruption allegations

The wife of South Korea’s jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested as investigators seek to charge her over various suspected crimes, including bribery, stock manipulation and meddling in the selection of a candidate.

In granting a special prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant late Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court said Kim Keon Hee posed a risk of destroying evidence.

The investigation into Kim is one of three special prosecutor probes launched under Seoul’s new liberal government targeting the presidency of Yoon, a conservative who was removed from office in April and rearrested last month over his brief imposition of martial law in December.

While Yoon’s self-inflicted downfall extended a decades-long run of South Korean presidencies ending badly, he and Kim are the first former presidential couple to be jailed simultaneously over criminal allegations.

Yoon’s surprising yet poorly planned power grab on Dec. 3 came amid a seemingly routine standoff with the liberals, who he described as “anti-state” forces abusing their legislative majority to block his agenda.

Some political opponents have questioned whether Yoon’s actions were at least partly motivated by growing allegations against his wife, which hurt his approval ratings and gave political ammunition to his rivals.

Kim did not speak to reporters as she arrived at the Seoul court Tuesday for an hours-long hearing on the warrant request. She is being held at a detention center in southern Seoul, separate from the facility holding Yoon.

She is expected to face further questioning on Thursday by investigators, who can extend her detention for up to 20 days before formally filing charges.

The investigation team led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki, who was appointed in June by new liberal President Lee Jae Myung, initially questioned Kim for about seven hours on Wednesday last week before deciding to seek her arrest.

Kim spoke briefly to reporters as she appeared for last week’s questioning, issuing a vague apology for causing public concern but also hinting that she would deny the allegations against her, portraying herself as “someone insignificant.”

Investigators suspect that Kim and Yoon exerted undue influence on the conservative People Power Party to nominate a specific candidate in a 2022 legislative by-election, allegedly at the request of election broker Myung Tae-kyun. Myung faces accusations of conducting free opinion surveys for Yoon using manipulated data that possibly helped him win the party’s presidential primaries before his election as president.

Kim is separately linked to multiple corruption allegations, including claims that she received luxury gifts via a fortuneteller acting as an intermediary for a Unification Church official seeking business favors, and possible involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme tied to a local BMW dealership company.

Min’s investigation team arrested one of Kim’s close associates earlier Tuesday following his arrival from Vietnam, as they look into suspicions that he used his connection to the former first lady to secure millions of dollars in business investments for his financially struggling company.

The investigators also raided a construction company on Monday over allegations that its chairman purchased a luxury necklace reportedly worth $43,000, which they believe was the same one Kim wore while accompanying Yoon on a 2022 trip to Europe.

Investigators suspect that the necklace was possibly linked to the chairman’s son-in-law’s hiring as the chief of staff of then-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Yoon’s No. 2, shortly before the presidential trip.

Kim has reportedly denied the accusations, claiming that the necklace she wore in Europe was not an authentic piece but a borrowed fake.

While in office, Yoon dismissed calls to investigate his wife as baseless political attacks and vetoed multiple bills from the liberal-led legislature seeking independent probes into the allegations.

Shortly after winning the early presidential election in June, new President Lee Jae Myung approved legislation to launch sweeping special investigations into Yoon’s martial law debacle, the allegations against his wife, and the 2023 drowning death of a marine during a flood rescue operation, an incident the liberals claim Yoon’s government tried to cover up.

Yoon’s martial law decree lasted only hours, after a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and voted to revoke the measure. He was impeached by lawmakers on Dec. 14 and was formally removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April.

Yoon, who was sent back to prison last month following a March release and faces a high-stakes trial on rebellion and other charges, has repeatedly resisted investigators’ attempts to compel him to answer questions about his wife.