Former President Yoon Suk-yeol's wife, Kim Keon-hee, made her first appearance before the special investigation team on the morning of the 6th. This is the first time a presidential spouse has publicly appeared before an investigative agency. The special investigation team plans to investigate five major allegations surrounding Kim that have seen some level of investigation.
The five major allegations are: ▲ suspicions that Kim received luxury bags and necklaces from a leader of the Unification Church through Jeon Seong-bae, a fortune teller, and helped resolve issues related to the Unification Church; ▲ allegations of involvement in stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors; ▲ suspicions of interference in the 2022 and 2024 election nominations.
◇ Did she receive necklaces through a fortune teller to help resolve Unification Church issues?
Kim is suspected of receiving two Chanel bags worth around 10 million won and necklaces from Van Cleef & Arpels and Graff worth around 60 million won through Jeon Seong-bae, a fortune teller, between April and July 2022, and of having helped resolve issues related to the Unification Church. However, there is currently no direct evidence or testimony confirming that Kim actually received these items.
Earlier, during the special investigation, Yoon Young-ho, the former head of the Global Mission Headquarters, who was referred to as the second-in-command of the Unification Church, reportedly acknowledged that he delivered items to Jeon. However, Jeon allegedly initially stated in the special investigation that he "received the items but lost them," and later changed his testimony to say that he instructed Yoo Kyung-ok, a former administrative officer in the presidential office and an associate of Kim, to exchange the bags for different products. Kim's side claims that she "never received anything."
According to the legal community, the special investigation team found that the Chanel shoes that Yoo exchanged were size 250 mm. The current whereabouts of these shoes are unknown. However, the special investigation team allegedly recorded that the shoe size of Kim, taken at the residence of former President Yoon last month, was 260 mm.
Additionally, the special investigation team secured a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace from Kim's brother-in-law, Kim Jin-woo's, mother-in-law's house last month. The team is investigating whether this necklace is the same one Kim wore during the NATO summit in June 2022, which became controversial, and whether it was received from a leader of the Unification Church.
When the controversy arose about Kim wearing a necklace valued in the millions of won in 2022, the presidential office explained that she "borrowed it from an acquaintance." However, Kim's side argued in a statement submitted to the prosecution in May that the presidential office's explanation was incorrect and that "the necklace was a fake". The special investigation team has reportedly concluded that the necklace is indeed a counterfeit.
◇ Did she know about the stock manipulation by Deutsch in advance... prosecutors dismissed charges last year
The stock manipulation case involving Deutsch Motors, which Kim is suspected of being involved in, was perpetrated by former chairman Kwon Oh-soo, who was the largest shareholder and CEO of the listed company Deutsch Motors, along with 13 accomplices, including current and former employees of securities firms, who used 157 accounts to illegally trade 15.99 million shares of Deutsch Motors (worth 636 billion won) between 2009 and 2012. In this case, former chairman Kwon received a three-year prison sentence, suspended for four years.
However, during the prosecution's investigation and the first and second trials, it was revealed that six securities accounts under Kim's name were used in the stock manipulation. In April 2020, Choi Kang-wook, a former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, submitted a complaint to the prosecution asking for an investigation into whether Kim conspired in the stock manipulation. The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office dismissed the charges against Kim in October last year, stating that there was no evidence of conspiracy or complicity. However, Choi requested a re-investigation, and the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office initiated a re-investigation.
The re-investigation team of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office reportedly secured hundreds of recording files containing evidence that Kim was aware of the stock manipulation by former chairman Kwon and Lee Jong-ho, the former CEO of Black Pearl Investment. These recordings allegedly include content where Kim told a securities firm employee that she "entrusted her account to Black Pearl and agreed to a 40% revenue return."
◇ Did she help former lawmaker Kim Young-sun and former prosecutor Kim Sang-min run in the 2022 and 2024 elections?
Kim is also suspected of having helped former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun secure a nomination in the 2022 by-election for the Changwon Sangnam constituency. The special investigation team believes that former President Yoon and Kim received opinion polls worth 318 million won related to the presidential election for free from Nam Tae-kyun and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun during the 2022 presidential election process. They suspect that in return, the former President Yoon and his wife pressured for Kim to become the People Power Party candidate for Changwon Sangnam.
In this context, on May 9, 2022, the day before the nomination announcement, former President Yoon's voice recording revealed that he said during a call with Nam, "I worked hard for Kim Young-sun since the primary, so please help her out."
Kim is also under suspicion for asking former lawmaker Kim to yield his constituency to former prosecutor Kim Sang-min during last year's general election and to support Kim Sang-min. The former prosecutor is reported to have a close relationship with former President Yoon and his wife. Former lawmaker Kim declared that he would change his constituency to Gimhae Gap in Gyeongsangnam-do to run, but he was eliminated from the candidates selected by the People Power Party. Former prosecutor Kim applied for candidacy in Changwon Uichang but was also excluded from the nominations.