South Korea’s ex-First Lady Kim Keon-hee in court on corruption charges

South Korea’s ex-First Lady Kim Keon-hee in court on corruption charges

Kim Keon-hee, the former first lady of South Korea, gave her first court appearance in a corruption trial involving bribery and stock manipulation.

Kim, 53, was detained on Wednesday after being detained there since August 12 and was presented to the Seoul Central District Court wearing her inmate number 4398.

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Kim claimed to the court that she was currently “unemployed” and opposed to a jury trial during an identity check conducted by the bench.

After being charged with breaking the Political Funds Act, the Capital Markets Act, and a law allowing bribes for mediation, Kim becomes the first spouse of a former president to go on trial.

The former first lady is accused under the Capital Markets Act of conspiring with a close associate, a BMW dealer, and former head of Deutsch Motors to sway the company’s stock prices and earn 810 million won ($581, 000) in profits between 2010 and 2012 in two years.

Kim Keon-hee (L) attends her first corruption trial hearing [AFP]

Kim’s second accusation stems from the rumor that she and her husband, former president Yoon Suk-yeol, were given free access to self-proclaimed power brokers’ opinions prior to the 2021 elections, which Yoon won.

However, Kim Young-sun’s nomination for a by-election later that year was the trade-off for the free polling.

Kim’s final accusation, which is related to corruption, is related to her alleged 2022 acceptance of luxurious jewelry and bags from the Unification Church.

Han Hak-ja, the church’s head, was detained on Tuesday for allegedly bribing Kim, a rumor that Han and her church refute.

Source: Aljazeera

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