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🇰🇷 SOUTH KOREA: Former First Lady Faces Arrest as Prosecutors Deepen Graft Probe

 



In a stunning escalation of South Korea’s political reckoning, prosecutors have requested the arrest of ex-First Lady Kim Keon Hee — just months after her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was detained over a controversial declaration of martial law.

Zig Diaries World News
Date: Thursday, 7 August 2025
Time: 08:00 WAT
Location: 
📍 Seoul, South Korea

Former First Lady Kim Keon Hee could become the first presidential spouse arrested in South Korea's history.

South Korean prosecutors on Thursday moved to arrest former First Lady, Kim Keon Hee, following intense questioning over alleged bribery, stock manipulation, and political interference — capping a dramatic sequence that has left both her and her husband, ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, at the centre of a constitutional crisis.

“We requested an arrest warrant for Kim at 1:21 pm (0421 GMT),” the special counsel’s office said in a brief statement. The timing comes just a day after the 52-year-old was grilled for hours over multiple allegations, all of which she reportedly denied.

Arriving at the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, Kim said, “I sincerely apologise for causing trouble despite being a person of no importance,” in a terse comment to the media.

If approved, the warrant would make Kim the first First Lady in South Korea’s democratic history to be arrested — and the first time a presidential couple was detained concurrently.

Her husband, Yoon Suk Yeol, a former top prosecutor turned president, was impeached and removed from office in April after unilaterally declaring martial law in December. The controversial decree briefly suspended civilian rule before being overturned by parliament.

Yoon had previously vetoed three investigation bills passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly that sought to probe his wife’s activities, including a widely circulated 2022 video showing her accepting a Dior handbag from a self-proclaimed fan.

Kim also faces accusations of meddling in the party nomination process ahead of parliamentary elections — a breach of South Korean election law.

Public trust further eroded after reports surfaced alleging her involvement in stock manipulation schemes during her time as an art consultant, before her husband's presidency.

The fallout has left a political void ahead of South Korea’s next scheduled elections in late 2025.

The arrest request is expected to be reviewed by the Seoul Central District Court within days.

AFP contributed to this report.

🏷️Tags: Kim Keon Hee, South Korea, Political Arrests, Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul
#KimKeonHee #SouthKoreaPolitics #Seoul #ZigWorldNews #YoonSukYeol #ZigDiaries

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