Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon-hee was jailed yesterday, August 12 after the Seoul central district court issued an arrest warrant on three corruption charges.
Prosecutors say Kim Keon-hee made more than 800 million won (around 32 million pesos) by working with others to illegally boost the stock prices of Deutsch Motors, a business dealership in South Korea, between 2009 and 2012.
She is also accused of accepting over 270 million won (over 11 million pesos) in illegal political funding through free opinion polls, allegedly used to influence the conservative and right-wing People Power Party to nominate a specific candidate in the 2022 legislative by-election.
Additionally, she allegedly received two Chanel bags worth 20 million won (over 800 thousand pesos) and a diamond necklace from a Unification Church official in exchange for business favors.
Punishable by years in prison, Kim’s charges include the following:
- Stock fraud
- Bribery
- Illegal influence-peddling involving business figures, religious leaders, and a political power broker
However, prosecutors argued that the arrest was primarily due to the risk that Kim might destroy evidence and interfere with the investigation.
Her legal team however has rejected all these allegations.
She now joins her husband, recently ousted ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was removed from office over a failed bid to impose martial law last year, in detention.
Kim is now at the Nambu Detention Centre in south-western Seoul, while Yoon has been in custody at the Seoul Detention Centre since July.