Arrest warrant issued for former First Lady Kim Keon Hee

Former president Yoon Suk Yeol and former First Lady Kim Keon Hee have become the first couple in constitutional history to be arrested together.

Former First Lady Kim Keon Hee has been taken into custody with the issuance of an arrest warrant, making her the first current or former First Lady to stand before a court for a detention review. With this, the former President and his wife have earned the ignominious title of being the first former presidential couple in Korean constitutional history to be arrested at the same time. The special prosecutor team, led by Min Joong Ki, plans to accelerate its investigation into over a dozen charges against Kim Keon Hee to uncover the full extent of the alleged corruption scandal.

On August 12, Judge Jeong Jae Wook of the Seoul Central District Court, in charge of reviewing arrest warrants, conducted a pretrial detention hearing for Kim Keon Hee on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act (related to the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case), violating the Political Funds Act (in connection with Myung Tae Kyun’s candidate nomination interference case), and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (involving the “Gun Jin monk” bribery and solicitation case). He issued the warrant, citing a "risk of destroying evidence." Kim Keon Hee, who had been waiting at Seoul Southern Detention Center for the hearing results, will be formally processed and placed in solitary confinement.

In her final statement in court, Kim Keon Hee said, "I feel upset the issues from before my marriage are still being brought up," and appealed to the judge to "make a fair decision." She married former President Yoon, then a prosecutor, in March 2012. The special counsel and Kim Keon Hee's legal team fiercely disputed the allegations in court, but the judge sided with the prosecutors.

Ahead of the hearing, the special counsel submitted an 847-page opinion to the court in two installments. Prosecutor Han Moon Hyun and others emphasized the seriousness of the crimes and the high risk of destroying evidence. They stated in the arrest warrant application that Kim Keon Hee was a key figure in "state corruption." They alleged that she received luxury goods, including a Chanel bag and necklace worth about 80 million KRW (approx. 57,796 USD) from the Unification Church in exchange for influencing issues important to the church, an act they stated violated the constitutional principle of separating religion from politics. They also asserted that, in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, Kim Keon Hee was not merely an accessory but an active co-conspirator. Furthermore, they claimed she accepted 274.4 million KRW (approx. 198,183 USD) in illegal political funds from Myung Tae Kyun by receiving a free public opinion survey.

The prosecutors’ “hidden card” is believed to have influenced the court’s decision. They presented Judge Jeong with both an authentic Van Cleef & Arpels necklace, provided to Kim Keon Hee by Seohee Construction and later retrieved, and a counterfeit version. While not part of the formal charges in the arrest warrant, the prosecutors used this to highlight alleged obstruction of justice and evidence destruction. Special Prosecutor Oh Jeong Hee told the media, "Although it is clear that Kim wore the genuine necklace, given to her by Seohee Construction, during a NATO tour, she claimed during the investigation that it was a fake bought in Hong Kong 20 years ago. We will thoroughly investigate how an identical counterfeit model was found at a relative’s home during a search."

Kim Keon Hee's legal representatives denied all charges, arguing that she was merely a passive investor unaware of the Deutsche Motors scheme; that she never requested a poll from Myung and that valuing a free poll in monetary terms to apply Political Funds Act violations was unreasonable; and that she never received money or favors from the “Gun Jin monk.” They also presented medical documents to argue she was in poor health and unlikely to flee. Judge Jeong rejected these arguments.

With Kim Keon as the main target of the special counsel, arrested just 41 days after the team was launched, the remaining investigations are expected to gain momentum. These include: the luxury jewelry bribery allegations; Sam Bu Construction stock manipulation allegations; preferential route changes for the Seoul–Yangpyeong expressway; preferential development rights in Yangpyeong Gongheung district; the “inner circle gate” scandal involving 18.4 billion KRW (~13.3 million USD) raised for IMS Mobility despite its capital erosion; bribery through sponsorship of Covana Contents; corruption related to relocating the presidential office and residence to Yongsan; misuse of diplomatic resources for luxury trips; and obstruction of various investigations and probes.