Ex-President Yoon grilled in special counsel investigation into his wife's bribery allegations

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol appears for his trial on abuse of power and other charges at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Sept. 26. Yonhap

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday underwent more than eight hours of questioning by a special counsel team over corruption allegations linked to his wife and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.

It marked the jailed former president's first appearance before special counsel Min Joong-ki's team, which launched in July to investigate corruption and other allegations surrounding Kim.

Yoon is accused of being an accomplice to his wife when she allegedly received opinion polls worth 270 million won (US$183,000) for free from a self-proclaimed power broker and when she allegedly accepted a painting worth 140 million won from a former prosecutor.

He is also suspected of violating the Public Official Election Act for allegedly speaking a falsehood about his wife during a 2021 debate when he was a presidential candidate.

Min's team is also looking into whether Yoon was involved in Kim's alleged acceptance of luxury gifts from others, including Lee Bae-yong, former head of the National Education Commission, in exchange for favors.

Yoon denied all allegations against him, his lawyers said.

When asked by reporters earlier about whether Yoon was aware of Kim's acceptance of luxury gifts, his lawyer said the former president was "completely unaware."

Saturday's interrogation likely marked Yoon's final appearance before Min's team as the special counsel investigation is scheduled to end Dec. 28.