Latest news with #KimKeonhee


South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
From ‘VIP No 1' to suspect: how former South Korean first lady has fallen
Published: 2:40pm, 22 Jul 2025 Updated: 2:42pm, 22 Jul 2025 South Korea 's former first lady Kim Keon-hee has been formally summoned for questioning by a team of special prosecutors, marking a significant step forward in an expanding investigation into a raft of scandals tied to her and her husband, ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol . Both Kim and Yoon were called in for separate questioning as 'suspects' under a parliament-mandated investigation, special prosecutors said on Monday. Yoon is set to appear next Tuesday, while Kim will face scrutiny on August 6, according to Assistant Special Prosecutor Moon Hong-joo. Kim's legal team has said she intends to cooperate, though they also indicate she may seek a postponement. 'Kim Keon-hee was widely believed to have exerted outsize influence over both her husband and state affairs, earning her the nickname 'VIP No 1',' Jung Suk-koo, former executive editor of the progressive Hankyoreh newspaper, told This Week in Asia. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol after a hearing in Seoul on July 9. Photo: Newsis/Xinhua 'The fact that she is now being questioned suggests that momentum is building to finally expose the wrongdoings that plagued the Yoon administration.'


South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Former South Korean first lady now a suspect in bribery scandal, summoned for questioning
South Korea 's former first lady Kim Keon-hee has been formally summoned for questioning by a team of special prosecutors, marking a significant step forward in an expanding investigation into a raft of scandals tied to her and her husband, ousted former president Yoon Suk-yeol Both Kim and Yoon were called in for separate questioning as 'suspects' under a parliament-mandated investigation, special prosecutors said on Monday. Yoon is set to appear next Tuesday, while Kim will face scrutiny on August 6, according to Assistant Special Prosecutor Moon Hong-joo. Kim's legal team has said she intends to cooperate, though they also indicate she may seek a postponement. 'Kim Keon-hee was widely believed to have exerted outsize influence over both her husband and state affairs, earning her the nickname 'VIP No 1',' Jung Suk-koo, former executive editor of the progressive Hankyoreh newspaper, told This Week in Asia. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol after a hearing in Seoul on July 9. Photo: Newsis/Xinhua 'The fact that she is now being questioned suggests that momentum is building to finally expose the wrongdoings that plagued the Yoon administration.'


South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korea raids Unification Church as ex-first lady Kim's corruption probe widens
Investigators on Friday raided the headquarters of the Unification Church in South Korea as part of a widening corruption probe involving former first lady Kim Keon-hee, marking another setback for the controversial religious group following the assassination of Japan 's ex-leader Shinzo Abe in 2023. Armed with court-issued warrants, a special prosecutor's team searched the church's main compound in Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul, and its Seoul branch office. Television footage showed riot police with shields flanking investigators as they entered the sprawling Gapyeong compound. Around 100 church followers, dressed in white shirts and black pants, gathered at the main gate in response to an urgent message from the church urging them to 'protect' its leader, Han Hak-ja. Other than chanting slogans, the group offered little resistance as law enforcement officers made their way into the facility. Investigators seized documents, computer files and other suspected evidence related to allegations that the church bribed Kim shortly after her husband, Yoon Suk-yeol , was elected president in March 2022 on a platform of 'fairness and common sense'. Among the key accusations is that former senior church official Yoon Young-ho gave luxury items – including Chanel handbags and a diamond necklace – to a broker who promised to deliver them to Kim between April and August 2022.


NHK
6 days ago
- Politics
- NHK
Ex-Unification Church in S.Korea raided by team investigating former first lady
A special prosecutor investigating the wife of ousted South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has launched a raid of the headquarters of a religious group widely known as the Unification Church. The move comes as South Korean media have linked former first lady Kim Keon-hee to the group through a gift scandal. The independent prosecutor said on Friday that his team was searching multiple locations, including the group's main compound near Seoul. The prosecutor did not provide a reason for the raid. South Korean media say that in 2022, a then high-ranking official of the religious group gave a luxury handbag and a diamond necklace to the first lady through a third person. The reports say the special prosecutor was investigating the case as a possible violation of a law banning the provision of expensive gifts to spouses of people holding public office. Yoon was serving as president when the alleged gifting occurred. Reports say that in return for the gifts, the former high-ranking official sought favors from Kim. This allegedly included a request for official development assistance in connection with the religious group's project in Cambodia. According to South Korean media, the special prosecutor is also searching the National Intelligence Service as part of an investigation into the former first lady.


South China Morning Post
25-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
South Korea's first lady problem: plagiarism, privilege and Kim Keon-hee
When a top private university revoked the master's degree of South Korea 's former first lady for plagiarism this week, it was more than just another routine academic scandal – it was a signal that the days of unchecked privilege for political spouses may be over. Advertisement On Monday, Sookmyung Women's University announced it had annulled the art education degree awarded to Kim Keon-hee in 1999 – submitted under her previous name, Kim Myung-shin – after its research ethics panel found the thesis was so seriously compromised that cancellation was warranted. For many critics, the decision was long overdue. Yet it also marks a watershed moment: a sign of rising public demand for transparency and consequences not just for elected officials, but for those who orbit them. The fallout, political analysts say, could redefine the expectations placed on future first ladies in a country where unofficial power has long operated outside formal scrutiny. 'It's rare in modern political history for a leader's spouse to remain so prominently and persistently at the centre of controversy,' Choi Jin, head of the Institute for Presidential Leadership, told This Week in Asia. 'From now on, the public will be watching not just elected officials, but their families too.' Kim, the embattled wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol , has faced mounting legal and political pressure in recent months. The university's move comes after years of accusations that it had hesitated to act, despite public uproar and findings that nearly half of her thesis had been plagiarised. Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee are facing multiple investigations over alleged offences ranging from stock manipulation to political interference. Photo: AFP 'This decision was made to uphold research ethics and reinforce academic integrity,' the university said in a statement.