Kim Keon Hee, the wife of disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol, appeared at a Seoul court on Tuesday to present her arguments before the court decides on a warrant for her detention.
Though the warrant hearing was set to begin at 10:10 a.m., Kim arrived at the Seoul Central District Court almost 40 minutes earlier than scheduled.
Kim entered the court without answering any questions. Reporters asked whether she told the truth to the special counsel team regarding luxury gifts and what she meant by calling herself “a nobody” before appearing for questioning on Aug. 6.
Kim is suspected of plotting to rig the price of Deutsch Motors shares between 2009 and 2012 and receiving luxury items from a high-ranking Unification Church Official through a shaman to support projects in Cambodia that were in the interest of the church.
The former first lady is also thought to have interfered in the People Power Party’s candidate nomination process with her husband Yoon, by securing a nomination on the party ticket ahead of the 2022 by-elections for former lawmaker Kim Young-sun.
If the court issues the detention warrant, Kim will be the first former first lady to be detained by an investigative agency. Her husband, former President Yoon has been detained since last month over insurrection charges involving his Dec. 3, 2024, martial law declaration.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
![[Exclusive] Ateez to return in November](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/news-p.v1.20260902.76162fb0ba55493aad1c076f240d0750_R.jpg?type=h&h=120)