Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee has been arrested by order of the Seoul Central District Court, becoming the first ex-president’s wife in the country’s history to be taken into custody. Her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, is also under arrest in a case related to an attempt to impose martial law, reports Baltimore Chronicle citing The Guardian.
The situation is unprecedented, as both members of the former presidential couple are simultaneously in detention. Yoon was arrested for the second time in July 2025 as part of an investigation into his failed attempt in December 2024 to declare martial law, which, according to him, was aimed at stopping the “anti-state activities” of the opposition, which he accused of supporting North Korea.
As for Kim Keon Hee, law enforcement is investigating 16 criminal charges, but the arrest warrant covers only three of them. According to prosecutors, between 2009 and 2012 she illegally earned over 800 million won by manipulating shares of Deutsch Motors, an official BMW dealer in South Korea. She is also accused of receiving over 270 million won in illegal political funding through free polling services and using these funds to influence the selection of candidates for the conservative People Power Party in the 2022 elections.
The third charge concerns accepting expensive gifts, including Chanel handbags and jewelry, from the Unification Church in exchange for favorable treatment of development projects in Cambodia. Last week, Kim was interrogated for more than seven hours before the arrest request was filed. The court cited “concerns over destruction of evidence” as the main reason for detention, while Kim denied all charges in court.
The December 2024 incident involving Yoon Suk Yeol, when he unexpectedly announced martial law, led to the military blocking the parliament, mass protests, and the swift cancellation of the decision by lawmakers. This attempt, along with the political crisis that followed, resulted in two arrests of the former president — he was first released in March but taken into custody again in July.
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