Media crew wait outside the home of former first lady Kim Keon Hee and former President Yoon Suk Yeol in southern Seoul on July 25, 2025, as a special counsel team attempts to carry out a search and seizure. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 25 (Korea Bizwire) — A special counsel team on Friday raided former first lady Kim Keon Hee’s home and the company she formerly headed as part of their investigation into corruption allegations surrounding her.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team carried out the search and seizure on Kim’s residence and Covana Contents’ office in southern Seoul ahead of her scheduled appearance for questioning on Aug. 6.
The special counsel team has been looking into Kim’s alleged acceptance of luxury goods from a shaman, her alleged meddling in election nominations and her alleged involvement in two different stock price manipulation schemes.
Kim is suspected of receiving a Chanel bag and a diamond necklace from Unification Church officials through the shaman in 2022 allegedly in return for favors, including support for the church’s involvement in a development project in Cambodia and efforts to acquire news channel YTN.
The team raided the Unification Church’s headquarters and government agencies managing funds designated to support developing countries last week.
On Friday, the team also sought an arrest warrant for a key figure in the church, surnamed Yoon, on charges including violations of the anti-graft law and embezzlement.
Yoon is accused of delivering the luxury items received from a shaman, named Jeon Seong-bae, or Geon Jin, to Kim, allegedly as part of lobbying efforts on behalf of the church regarding its projects.
While Yoon has admitted to delivering the items and asking for favors, he has claimed that he acted under the direction of the senior church leadership, including Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja.
Kim and her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, are also suspected of interfering in nominations of People Power Party (PPP) candidates for the 2022 by-elections and last year’s general elections.
In one case, they have been accused of securing the party’s nomination of former Rep. Kim Young-sun for the 2022 by-elections in return for receiving a free opinion poll from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the presidential election that year.
In the case of the 2024 general elections, the former first lady is suspected of having tried to get former prosecutor Kim Sang-min nominated for the district previously won by Kim Young-sun.
Former first lady Kim Keon Hee ( Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Also Friday, the team separately raided Rep. Kim Sun-gyo’s office at the National Assembly to search for evidence over allegations the PPP lawmaker intervened in an expressway project that stirred controversy in 2023.
The then Yoon administration allegedly changed the endpoint of the Seoul-Yangpyeong expressway project to where the former first lady’s family owns land in Yangpyeong, east of Seoul, raising accusations of preferential treatment.
The lawmaker, who previously served as the county’s governor, is suspected of making the request for the change. After the scandal broke out, the government announced it would scrap the project.
The lawmaker was also targeted in a separate raid the same day.
The special counsel team said it was raiding the residence and office of Rep. Kim, and the former first lady’s brother Kim Jin-woo and her mother Choi Eun-soon over allegations surrounding a housing project led by Choi’s family company ESI&D in Yangpyeong.
ESI&D, which built an apartment complex in Yangpyeong from 2011 to 2016, reportedly did not pay any development fees and allegedly received other preferential treatment. Rep. Kim served as the county governor at the time of the project.
The case was previously handled by the police, which referred Kim’s brother and four other ESI&D officials to the prosecution in 2023 on charges of forging documents, but did not charge Choi or the former first lady.
(Yonhap)
