Seoul, Dec 29 (IANS) South Korea’s Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team on Monday accused former first lady Kim Keon Hee of illegally intervening in state affairs “behind the curtains” as it announced the final results of its investigation.
The team raised the accusation against Kim — the wife of ousted former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol — in a press briefing, a day after its 180-day investigation into her corruption allegations officially concluded.
“The special counsel investigation confirmed the president’s spouse engaged in the modern-day sale of public offices, something expected to be found in history books, and illegally intervened in state affairs behind the curtains, out of the public’s sight,” assistant special counsel Kim Hyong-kun said.
Last week, the team additionally indicted Kim on charges of accepting luxury gifts from businesspeople and others in exchange for government positions and political nominations.
Kim is accused of receiving gifts worth 370 million won ($258,000) in total, including a painting worth 140 million won, from a former prosecutor in return for her support for his bid to win the People Power Party’s (PPP) nomination in last year’s general elections.
Since its launch in July, Min’s team has focused on three key suspicions — Kim’s alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme, her alleged acceptance of free opinion polls from a self-proclaimed power broker and her suspected receipt of luxury gifts from the Unification Church.
Over the course of the investigation, the team placed 20 people, including Kim, under custody and indicted dozens more, including Kim and her husband.
Specifically, Kim is accused of conspiring with a former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, as well as a close associate, to manipulate the company’s stock price and make 810 million won ($561,000) in illegal profits between 2010 and 2012, Yonhap news agency reported.
She is also accused of receiving free opinion polls worth 270 million won, together with her husband, from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Assistant special counsel Oh Jeong-hee accused Kim of taking a “leading role” since Yoon’s entry into politics, saying the couple acted together as a “political union” after Yoon’s election.
Kim also faces charges of receiving luxury gifts worth 80 million won from the Unification Church in exchange for business favors in 2022 and of alleged involvement in a scheme to mass recruit Unification Church followers for the PPP ahead of its 2023 leadership race.
–IANS
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