59 Days After Special Prosecutor's Investigation Began, Kim Keonhee Indicted After Five Detention Interrogations
Charged With Violations of the Political Funds Act and Other Offenses
Arrest Warrant Requested for Lawmaker Kwon Seongdong the Previous Day
Kim Keonhee, who has been identified as the central figure in various allegations including interference in party nominations, was indicted and sent to trial on August 29 while under detention. This comes 59 days after the special prosecutor team led by Min Jungki began its investigation. It is the first time in the history of the constitution that both a former and a sitting president’s spouse are simultaneously standing trial while in custody.
Kim Keonhee, wife of former President Yoon Sukyeol, is attending the pre-arrest detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on August 12, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps
On this day, the special prosecutor indicted Kim on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, violations of the Political Funds Act, and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Kim faces allegations of: ▲participating as a financier in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case; ▲interfering in party nominations after receiving free public opinion polling services from political broker Myung Taegyun; and ▲receiving requests from the Unification Church and an expensive necklace through Buddhist monk Jeon Seongbae. The special prosecutor’s team summoned Kim for questioning five times after her arrest, but she refused to answer most of the questions.
The charges applied by the special prosecutor in this indictment account for only a small portion of the allegations raised against Kim. Recently, the team searched the homes of Park Sunggeun, former Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office and son-in-law of the chairman of Seohee Construction, businessman Seo Seongbin, and Lee Baeyong, Chairperson of the National Education Commission, securing materials related to suspicions that Kim received a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace, a Vacheron Constantin watch, and a gold turtle.
Going forward, the investigation is expected to focus on determining whether these individuals provided expensive jewelry in exchange for public office appointments or business favors. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Kim may face additional indictments.
Meanwhile, on the previous day, the special prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for Kwon Seongdong, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. This is the first time in the history of the special prosecutor system that an arrest warrant has been requested for a sitting member of the National Assembly.
Kwon announced on his Facebook page that he would give up his 'immunity from arrest.' He is accused of receiving 100 million won in illegal political funds in January 2022 from Yoon, the former global head of the Unification Church (who has already been indicted), in exchange for supporting a Unification Church event.
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