Former first lady Kim Keon Hee arrives at special counsel Min Joong-ki’s office in central Seoul on Aug. 6, 2025, to undergo questioning over a series of corruption allegations. (Image courtsy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – A special counsel team on Wednesday wrapped up its first questioning of former first lady Kim Keon Hee over her alleged involvement in stock manipulation schemes, election meddling and other charges. Kim denied allegations against her, according to judicial sources.
The questioning lasted more than seven hours after beginning at around 10:23 a.m. at special counsel Min Joong-ki’s office in central Seoul.
Kim is the first spouse of a former or sitting president to publicly appear as a suspect in a criminal investigation.
Upon arriving at Min’s office, the wife of the jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol said in front of reporters, “I am truly sorry that a nobody like me has caused concern to the people.”
“I will come out after faithfully undergoing the investigation,” she added.
But Kim is said to have denied allegations against her in Wednesday’s questioning.
The special counsel team reportedly focused on interrogating Kim over allegations of participating in a stock price manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009 to 2012, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favors.
The special counsel team is tasked with investigating a total of 16 criminal allegations against the former first lady, making it likely she will be summoned again for further questioning.
There are allegations that Kim omitted a high-end necklace she wore during her visit with Yoon to Spain in 2022 from their legally required asset disclosure and that Yoon made a false statement about his wife’s alleged involvement in the stock manipulation scheme during the presidential primaries in 2021.
Also, the investigation targets suspicions the couple’s surprise visit to Ukraine in 2023 was behind a sharp increase in the share price of a midsized construction company; that the endpoint of an expressway project was changed to where Kim’s family owns land in Yangpyeong, just east of Seoul; and that her family received preferential treatment in an apartment construction project in the county.
Wednesday’s questioning was expected by some to run past 9 p.m. but appears to have ended early in the evening due to Kim’s objection. A nighttime questioning requires the suspect’s consent.
Outside the office building, protesters for and against the former presidential couple gathered from early morning to chant opposing slogans in the rain.
Two other former first ladies have been investigated in the past.
In 2004, former President Chun Doo-hwan’s wife, Lee Soon-ja, was questioned by prosecutors in a slush fund case, but the fact only became known afterward.
In 2009, former President Roh Moo-hyun’s wife, Kwon Yang-sook, was also questioned by prosecutors as a witness in a corruption case, but it was revealed the next day.
(Yonhap)
