On the 6th, Kim Keon-hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, appeared for her first session with Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki’s team regarding various allegations surrounding her. It has been reported that she testified that “Kim Young-sun kept contacting regarding nominations, but I cut him off through the Office of Political Affairs in the Presidential Office.”
According to legal sources on the 7th, Mrs. Kim appeared as a suspect in the special prosecutor’s investigation, claiming that former legislator Kim requested help with nominations ahead of the last general election.
Mrs. Kim also allegedly stated that she cut off political broker Myeong Tae-gyun, who is suspected of interfering with nominations, using the Presidential Office.
Mrs. Kim and Yoon Suk-yeol are suspected of having influenced Kim Young-sun, a former legislator, to be nominated in the June 1 by-elections of that year in exchange for receiving illegal public opinion polling results from Mr. Myeong during the 2022 presidential election.
She is also accused of trying to get former prosecutor Kim Sang-min, who she is acquainted with, to run in the Changwon Uichang district in Gyeongsangnam-do during the April 10 general election last year.
The special prosecutor’s team reportedly questioned Mrs. Kim about whether she first requested public opinion polling from Mr. Myeong in July 2021, half a year before the presidential election.
In response, Mrs. Kim denied ever requesting Mr. Myeong to conduct opinion polls or exerting influence for Mr. Kim’s nomination.
She countered accusations regarding Mr. Myeong’s opinion polls by stating that while she was grateful for his political advice, such as introducing her to former Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in, she only looked at the opinion polls when they were provided without having requested them.
The special prosecutor’s team is also investigating Mrs. Kim on allegations involving interference with nominations (violation of the Political Funds Act and Public Official Election Act, bribery), manipulating Deutsch Motors stock prices (violating the Capital Market Act), receiving favors (bribery), and failing to declare high-value property such as a luxury necklace (violation of the Public Official Ethics Act).
The investigation did not cover allegations related to the false declaration of facts during the presidential primaries, which was included in the initial subpoena.
Mrs. Kim reportedly denied all charges during the investigation.
In an initial investigation session, the prosecutors interrogated Mrs. Kim regarding the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation accusations and presented a recorded phone conversation with a securities firm’s employee, indicating she might have been aware of the stock manipulation in advance.
The recording includes her voice allegedly agreeing to give “40% profit to the account manager side,” suggesting she might have been aware of the stock manipulation. Mrs. Kim, however, argued that the recording was merely circumstantial evidence and cannot be considered direct proof of her involvement.
She asserted that she was too busy with her Master of Business Administration program at Seoul National University at that time to engage in other activities.
Additionally, regarding accusations of colluding with former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo or other stock manipulation groups, she admitted to being introduced to stock market “operators” but claimed the investments resulted in losses.
When questioned about the allegations of receiving high-cost diamonds and Chanel bags as favors in connection with requests by Yoon, the former head of the Unification Church, through Jeon Seong-bae, who is known as Kunjin Hwalsam, Mrs. Kim maintained her position that she never received such items.
She also described a separation from Mr. Jeon, stating that before and after former President Yoon’s inauguration, the Presidential Office warned Mr. Jeon not to use the President’s and First Lady’s names.
Mrs. Kim addressed why Mr. Jeon visited the complex where she resides multiple times, explaining he was not there to see her.
She denied accusations about failing to declare a high-value necklace she wore at the NATO summit meeting in Spain in June 2022, claiming it was a 2 million won imitation purchased as a gift for her mother, Choi Eun-soon, back in 2010.
Mrs. Kim explained that she borrowed the necklace from her mother for the occasion and frequently purchased imitation jewelry for personal use. The actual necklace was reportedly valued at about 60 million won, much higher than the plottage ethics regulation threshold of 5 million won for mandatory declaration.
Regarding the necklace found at the home of her elder brother Kim Jin-woo’s wife’s mother, Mrs. Kim explained that she abandoned the necklace after the controversy, and it is presumed her brother later took it.
On the allegations of receiving distilled red ginseng extract as a bribe, she explained she did not accept it because ginseng does not suit her constitution.
When the investigation team presented phone records in which she supposedly remarked that her health improved after eating ginseng, Mrs. Kim clarified that she made the call at Mr. Jeon’s request asking to “call Mr. Yun.”
Mrs. Kim further testified that the “Gunhee2” phone used for communication with Mr. Jeon was actually used by Jeong Ji-won, a former Presidential Office administrator, not herself.
Despite Mrs. Kim’s denials, the special prosecutor’s team concluded that her statements lack credibility based on the evidence and testimony already gathered. Consequently, they filed an arrest warrant against her.
The warrant specifies violations including the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act, and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
The pre-trial detention hearing for Mrs. Kim is scheduled for October 12 at 10:10 AM at the Seoul Central District Court under Judge Jeong Jae-uk. Her detention status will likely be determined late that night.