South Korean prosecutors yesterday raided the headquarters of the former party of jailed former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol to gather evidence in an election meddling case against his wife, a day after she was arrested on corruption and other charges.
Former first lady Kim Keon-hee was arrested late on Tuesday on a range of charges including stock manipulation and corruption, prosecutors said.
Her arrest came hours after the Seoul Central District Court reviewed prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant against the 52-year-old.
Photo: EPA
The court granted the warrant, citing the risk of tampering with evidence, after prosecutors submitted an 848-page opinion laying out Kim’s alleged “unlawful acts.”
Prosecutors said they raided the People Power Party office to collect evidence of Kim’s alleged meddling in parliamentary elections.
Yoon quit the party in May after his removal from office, but endorsed its candidate in the snap presidential election that was won by the Democratic Party’s Lee Jae-myung.
Opposition leader Song Eon-seog slammed the raid as “nothing short of gangster behavior.”
“I cannot contain my outrage at the Lee Jae-myung administration’s ruthless political persecution and retaliation against the opposition, spearheaded by the special prosecution,” Song told a news conference.
With the arrest, South Korea now has a former president and first lady both behind bars for the first time in the nation’s history.
The charges against Kim include contraventions of capital market and financial investment laws, as well as political funds laws.
The arrest caps a dramatic fall for the former first couple after Yoon’s stunning martial law declaration on Dec. 3 last year, which saw soldiers deployed to parliament, but was swiftly voted down by opposition lawmakers.
Yoon, a former top prosecutor, was impeached and removed from office in April over the declaration, prompting the country to hold a snap election in June.
He has been in detention since July 10.
Last week, Kim underwent hours-long questioning by prosecutors, who filed for an arrest warrant the next day.
“I sincerely apologize for causing trouble despite being a person of no importance,” she said as she arrived at the prosecutors’ office yesterday.
Controversy has long surrounded Kim, with lingering questions about her alleged role in stock manipulation.
Public criticism was reignited in 2022 when a left-wing pastor filmed himself presenting her with a Dior handbag that she appeared to accept.
She has also been accused of interfering in the nomination process for lawmakers in Yoon’s party, a contravention of election laws.
Yoon, as president, vetoed three special investigation bills passed by the opposition-controlled parliament that sought to probe the allegations against Kim, with the last veto issued in late November last year.
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