Ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee arrested

Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Seoul, Tuesday, to attend a hearing on her arrest warrant over stock manipulation and other corruption charges. Yonhap

A local court issued an arrest warrant for Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Wednesday, on stock price manipulation and other charges.

The court decision led to the unprecedented case of both a former president and first lady being imprisoned at the same time, as Yoon is currently in pretrial detention on insurrection charges. Kim has also become the first former first lady to be arrested.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant for Kim, citing risks of destroying evidence, noting her inconsistent statements during questioning and concerns she might coordinate testimony with her former aides and other suspects.

Kim, who had been waiting for the court decision at the Seoul Nambu Detention Center, took procedure for confinement upon the warrant issuance.

Kim faces charges of involvement in stock price rigging, meddling in the candidate nomination process for the 2022 by-elections and taking bribes in return for business favors to several companies and the Unification Church.

Kim's demeanor on Tuesday for the court hearing stood in stark contrast to her appearance six days earlier when she told reporters outside the special counsel’s office, “I'm just a nobody.” This time, she remained silent from the moment she stepped out of a black van at 9:26 a.m. — more than 40 minutes before the hearing was due to start — until she entered the courthouse. She ignored repeated questions from the press, including requests to explain her previous remark.

Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, carries a black tote bag with the word 'HOPE' on it as she arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Tuesday, for a hearing to review her arrest warrant. Yonhap

During the court review, the special counsel investigating her case pressed for her detention, citing a high risk of evidence destruction. Her lawyers, however, denied all accusations and counter that she poses no flight risk and is in poor health.

The hearing took place in Courtroom 321 in the western wing of the courthouse — the same venue where Yoon underwent a nearly seven-hour-long arrest warrant review last month before being placed in custody again. The courtroom is frequently used for high-profile defendants, including former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, as well as senior political and business figures facing detention decisions.

Kim faces three key allegations: violation of the Capital Markets Act for allegedly participating in the manipulation of the stock price of Deutsche Motors; violation of the Political Funds Act for allegedly interfering in the candidate nominations for the then-ruling People Power Party in the 2022 by-elections at the request of political broker Myung Tae-gyun; and violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes for allegedly accepting bribes from individuals, including a shaman known as “Geonjin” and intermediaries linked to the Unification Church.

As the warrant is issued, prosecutors are expected to widen the investigation to include other allegations.

In the meantime, the special counsel team announced Tuesday that officials of Seohee Construction submitted a written statement admitting that the company had provided Kim with a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace shortly after her husband’s inauguration in May 2022. She later wore the necklace during his trip to the NATO summit in June that year.

According to investigators, Seohee officials said they retrieved the necklace from Kim several years later and kept it until recently, before handing it over to the investigators.

Earlier, the investigators found a fake version of the same necklace at the home of Kim’s brother's mother-in-law. Kim's side claimed at the time that she bought it in Hong Kong in 2010, but the team found that Van Cleef & Arpels released the design in 2015.

The special counsel believes that the necklace worn by Kim on the NATO trip was authentic and was from Seohee. However, Kim has maintained during questioning that the necklace she wore was counterfeit.