Seoul: Jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee once again exercised her right to remain silent during a third questioning session by a special counsel team on Thursday, as sources revealed. She is set to face another round of questioning on Saturday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim, the spouse of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was brought to the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki in central Seoul in a prison van at approximately 2:12 p.m. The session aimed to probe into allegations of corruption and bribery against her. Last Tuesday, a Seoul court issued a warrant for Kim's arrest, citing suspicions of her involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, interference in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and the 2024 general elections, and accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in return for business favors.
During the three-hour session, Kim reportedly invoked her right to remain silent for most of the questions, as she had in her previous sessions on Monday and last Thursday. The special counsel team, led by Min, plans to question Kim again on allegations related to receiving gifts from the church through the shaman, identified as Jeon Seong-bae, in a session scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.
Jeon has been accused of gifting Kim a diamond necklace and Chanel bags on behalf of the church between April and August 2022, along with delivering requests for business favors. While Jeon admitted to receiving requests from the church, he denied delivering the luxury gifts to Kim.
During her earlier session on Monday, Kim faced questions primarily about her alleged interference in candidate nominations and her purported role in the stock manipulation case. She maintained her silence for most questions posed.
On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Jeon, citing a high risk of evidence destruction. This action followed the special counsel team's request for his arrest on charges of bribery and violations related to political funds. Jeon had waived his right to a warrant review hearing earlier that day.
Additionally, the investigation team summoned Lee Jong-ho, a close associate of Kim, for questioning regarding the stock manipulation case involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009 to 2012.
In a separate development, Yoon's legal team filed a complaint accusing the special counsel's team of assault during an attempt to forcibly bring in the jailed former president for questioning on August 7. The special counsel team had attempted to execute a detention warrant on that day, following a previous failed attempt on August 1. Assistant special counsel Park Sang-jin defended the team's actions as a "lawful" execution of the warrant and criticized the complaint as an attempt to obstruct the ongoing investigation.