South Korea: Special counsel team cites circumstances of ex-First Lady Kim's alleged involvement in personnel favours

Seoul, Nov 2 (IANS) A special counsel team has cited circumstances that Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, may have been involved in a series of personnel requests for the presidential office under the previous administration.

On Wednesday, special counsel Min Joong-ki's team disclosed evidence that a shaman involved in Kim's bribery case had requested the appointment of eight individuals to posts at the presidential office through Kim, shortly after the 2022 presidential elections.

Two of them were later confirmed to have worked at the presidential office, while another was appointed as a Consul General in September that year, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Investigators suspect that Kim had received the list of the eight individuals and may have exercised influence in the hiring process.

In August, Min's team indicted Kim with physical detention on charges of violating the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation, making her the first spouse of a former President to stand trial under custody.

Specifically, she was 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 ($582,000) in illegal profits between 2010 and 2012.

She was also accused of receiving free opinion polls worth 270 million won together with her husband from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the presidential election in 2022 in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year.

Additionally, she was suspected of receiving luxury gifts worth 80 million won from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favours in 2022.

Before she was indicted, Seohee Construction officials submitted a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and confessed to gifting the item to Kim right after Yoon was elected in March 2022, seeking a government job for the company chairman's son-in-law.

The son-in-law, a former prosecutor, was appointed as the chief of staff for then Prime Minister Han Duck-soo three months later.

Despite growing evidence, legal experts say it could be difficult to hold her liable, considering that she did not hold any public office and did not have any authority to make any personnel appointments.

Under the law, bribery charges apply to people typically holding public office who provide a benefit in exchange for a bribe.

In October last year, prosecutors dropped charges against Kim over her acceptance of a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022, pointing to the country's anti-graft law, which does not include provisions for punishing the spouses of public officials.

--IANS

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