Seoul: Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team announced on Monday that they have requested former first lady Kim Keon Hee be detained at a different facility than her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, should an arrest warrant be issued against her.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Min’s team filed a warrant for Kim last Thursday, following her interrogation regarding allegations of her involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme, interference in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections, and accepting bribes in exchange for business favors for the Unification Church.
The Seoul Central District Court is set to conduct a hearing on Tuesday to decide on the issuance of the warrant, which includes charges of violations of the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act, and laws concerning the acceptance of bribes for mediation.
The special counsel’s team informed the press, “At the request of Seoul Detention Center, we submitted an application to the court requesting a change in the place for her detention and confinement from Seoul Detention Center to Seoul Southern Detention Center.”
Initially, Kim was to be transferred to Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, located just south of Seoul, after attending Tuesday’s hearing to await the court’s decision. The request for her transfer to Seoul Southern Detention Center in southwestern Seoul is likely due to her husband’s current detention at Seoul Detention Center over his unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law in December.
If Kim is also arrested, it will mark the first instance in the country’s history where a former presidential couple is detained simultaneously.