Ex-first lady appears for questioning for 1st time since indictment

Former first lady Kim Keon Hee appeared before a special counsel team Thursday to be questioning about allegations she received an expensive painting in return for her help with a former prosecutor’s parliamentary campaign.

Kim, who has been held in custody since Aug. 12, arrived at special counsel Min Joong-ki’s office in a prison van, the first time she has appeared for questioning since the team indicted her on separate charges of bribery and corruption on Aug. 29.

The special counsel team has been widening its investigation into the former first lady, the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, following the indictment.

On Thursday, she is expected to be questioned about allegations of receiving a 140 million-won ($101,000) painting by renowned artist Lee Ufan from former prosecutor Kim Sang-min, in return for supporting his bid to win the then ruling People Power Party’s nomination for a parliamentary seat representing Changwon’s Uichang district in the April 2024 general elections.

The former prosecutor was placed under arrest last week on charges of delivering the painting, along with a request for the nomination, to Kim’s elder brother.

He failed to win the nomination, however, and was later appointed as a legal adviser for the National Intelligence Service, which the special counsel team suspects the former first lady played a part in.

Also Thursday, the team questioned a school violence committee official involved in reviewing the bullying case of a former presidential secretary’s daughter in 2023.

The former first lady is suspected of having helped cover up the case by calling the then vice education minister.