Ex-first lady Kim again exercises right to remain silent in special counsel questioning

Jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee appears at the Seoul Central District Court for questioning, Aug 12. Joint Press Corps

Jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee appeared at a special counsel's office Monday to undergo questioning for the second time but again exercised her right to remain silent on various corruption charges against her, sources close to the matter said.

Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was brought to special counsel Min Joong-ki's office in central Seoul earlier in the day in a prison van to attend the questioning.

Kim was placed in custody at the detention center in southwestern Seoul last week after a court issued a warrant to arrest her on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, 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 was mainly questioned on charges of interference in the candidate nominations from 10 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. and is being questioned about the stock manipulation case during the afternoon session, assistant special counsel Oh Jeong-hee said during a press briefing.

Oh said Kim exercised her right to remain silent for most of the questions, occasionally replying, "I don't know" or "I don't remember."

During her first questioning after the arrest, held last Thursday, she also exercised her right to remain silent, with the session only lasting about two hours.

Kim Ye-seong, known as the "butler" of the former first lady's family, also appeared for questioning by the special counsel team.

It marks the second questioning for the former first lady after her arrest last Tuesday and the first for Kim Ye-seong after a Seoul court issued his arrest warrant Friday over allegations of embezzling 3.38 billion won ($2.4 million) from IMS Mobility, a company he has a stake in.

Min's team has been investigating allegations that IMS Mobility unfairly received 18.4 billion won in investments from several companies, including Kakao Mobility Corp., in 2023.

Considering that IMS Mobility was effectively in a state of capital impairment at the time, special prosecutors suspect the companies made the investment in consideration of their connection to Kim and the former first lady.

They suspect that Kim funneled some of the investment into another company he effectively controlled.

The special counsel team is also looking into allegations that the embezzled funds or other profits may have possibly been funneled to the former first lady's family.

Kim has denied serving as a "butler" for the former first lady's family and the former first lady's involvement in the investments in IMS Mobility.

A justice ministry van carrying jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee arrives at the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki's team at the KT Gwanghwamun West building in central Seoul, Aug. 18, to be questioned for the second time over corruption allegations. Yonhap

A shaman named Jeon Seong-bae also appeared for questioning on charges of delivering a diamond necklace and Chanel bags to the former first lady on behalf of the Unification Church between April and August 2022. He allegedly delivered requests for business favors from the church along with the luxury gifts.

Jeon has denied the allegation, saying he lost the necklace and luxury bags before he could deliver them to the former first lady.

On Monday, the special counsel team also said it indicted a key Unification Church official, surnamed Yoon, accused of delivering the items to Jeon in 2022.

The special counsel team is looking into allegations that Jeon and Yoon tried to get the church's members to join the People Power Party to interfere in its leadership race in 2023 in favor of Rep. Kweon Seong-dong.

Jeon and the church official allegedly exchanged texts about then President Yoon Suk Yeol's support for Kweon.

With the three key figures appearing for questioning at the same time, the special counsel team may conduct a cross-examination if their testimonies are in conflict.