Special counsel indicts ex-first lady on corruption charges
A special counsel team on Friday indicted former first lady Kim Keon Hee on charges of corruption and bribery, making her the first spouse of a former president to stand trial under custody, Yonhap reports.
Kim, the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was indicted with physical detention on charges of violating the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation, special counsel Min Joong-ki's team said in a notice to the press.
Specifically, she is accused of providing funds for a stock manipulation scheme from 2009-2012 and receiving free opinion polls together with her husband from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the presidential election in 2022 in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year.
Additionally, she is suspected of receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favors in 2022.
"I will not avoid the path given to me and quietly engage in my trial," Kim said in a statement released by her lawyers after the indictment was announced. "I will continue to faithfully attend questioning by the special counsel regarding any charge. I am sincerely sorry and tormented every day by this situation that has caused concern to the people. However, I will not make excuses under any circumstances."
Kim also suggested the growing allegations against her are not entirely true.
"There is nothing I can change on my own at the moment, and new articles are pouring out every day as if they are certain facts, but I will not dodge them and will look into them carefully."
The indictment was filed two days before her pretrial arrest expires, keeping her in custody for another six months at most.
Her detention could be extended in the event the special counsel obtains a new arrest warrant on additional charges before the six-month period is up.
The team placed her under arrest on Aug. 12 after obtaining a warrant on the same charges as those listed in the indictment.
Kim's indictment makes her and her husband the first former presidential couple to stand trial under arrest simultaneously, as Yoon is also jailed and being tried on insurrection charges over his failed attempt to impose martial law in December.
The special counsel team has questioned Kim in person five times since her arrest, though she reportedly mostly exercised her right to remain silent.
The team has also widened the scope of its investigation since its launch two months ago, including through raids the previous day on several people suspected of providing jewelry to Kim in exchange for personnel appointments or business favors.
The team launched with a mandate to investigate a total of 16 criminal allegations against the former first lady, including suspicions the endpoint of an expressway project was changed to where her family owns land in Yangpyeong, just east of Seoul, and that her family received preferential treatment in an apartment construction project in the county.
The special counsel is expected to summon her multiple more times to get to the bottom of those allegations as well.
Earlier, it was reported that the special counsel is set to indict the former f irst lady of South Korea in corruption probe on Friday.
