Former South Korean first lady and prime minister indicted in case of arrested ex-president

Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee and former Prime Minister Han Duk Soo were indicted on August 29 as part of an investigation into the actions of the administration of former President Yoon Seok Yeol.

This is reported by the Associated Press.

The team, led by special prosecutor Min Joong Ki, said it had accused Kim Keon Hee of violating laws on the financial market and political party financing, as well as accepting bribes.

Through her lawyers, Kim issued a statement on August 29. In it, she did not specifically comment on the allegations against her, but said that the media was reporting the allegations as if they were “confirmed fact” and that she planned to attend the court hearings.

A separate panel led by special prosecutor Cho Eun Suk said former Prime Minister Han Duk Soo was charged with supporting the presidentʼs declaration of martial law, falsifying and destroying official documents, and giving false testimony under oath.

Han, who was appointed prime minister by President Yoon Seok Yeol, was supposed to serve as acting leader of South Korea after the president was impeached in mid-December 2024. However, Han resigned to run in the presidential election in June 2025. He dropped out of the race after failing to secure the nomination from the Peopleʼs Power Party.

• On the night of December 3-4, 2024, then-President of South Korea Yoon Seok Yeol declared martial law in the country to “protect the constitutional order” — the first time since the 1980s. The reason was that the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, rejected the government’s budget proposal and decided to impeach the state auditor and the attorney general. In total, martial law lasted about six hours, but caused an acute internal crisis.
• On January 15, 2025, Yoon Seok Yeol was detained. He is currently in a pre-trial detention center. On August 1, the ex-president disrupted the interrogation — he lay down on the floor in his underwear and refused to leave the cell.
• South Koreaʼs Constitutional Court removed Yoon Seok Yeol from office in a unanimous verdict on April 4.
• Former South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested on August 13 on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, election interference, and bribery. She and former President Yoon Seok Yeol became the first former presidential spouses to be detained at the same time.

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