Former first lady Kim Keon Hee leaves a special counsel team’s office in central Seoul after undergoing questioning over various corruption allegations on Aug. 6, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – A special counsel team raided the nation’s antitrust regulator Monday as part of its widening probe into corruption allegations involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
The team led by special counsel Min Joong-ki searched the offices of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in Sejong, some 110 kilometers south of Seoul, officials said.
The case centers on allegations that Kim Ye-seong, known as the former first lady’s “butler,” reportedly received illegal investments from several companies, including Kakao Mobility Corp., for IMS Mobility, a company he helped establish, in 2023.
Considering that IMS Mobility was effectively in a state of capital impairment at the time of the investments, special prosecutors suspect that the companies invested in IMS Mobility in consideration of its connection to Kim and the former first lady.
Some of the investors, including Kakao Mobility, were also being investigated by the FTC around the time of the investments.
Kakao Mobility was fined more than 20 billion won (US$14.4 million) on suspicion of manipulating its vehicle allocation algorithm for its taxi service, just months before investing in IMS Mobility.
Min’s team seeks to look into possible links between the investments and the FTC’s measures against the companies.
Earlier in the day, Min’s team raided a construction company in connection to another bribery allegation involving the former first lady.
The team carried out the search and seizure against Seohee Construction, suspected of possibly gifting a luxury necklace to Kim in return for a favor involving a government position.
Min’s team has been investigating Kim over the Van Cleef necklace that she wore during an overseas trip in June 2022 but was not included in her legally required asset disclosure.
It has raided a Van Cleef & Arpels store and secured records that an official close to Seohee Construction’s chairman purchased the same necklace model right after the presidential election in March 2022 won by Kim’s husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The team also discovered that the chairman’s son-in-law was appointed as the prime minister’s chief of staff in June that year, just before the overseas trip when Kim wore the necklace.
It is looking into allegations that company officials may have requested a personnel appointment favor in exchange for the necklace and is expected to call in Seohee Construction’s chairman and others for questioning.
(Yonhap)
