Ex-First Lady of South Korea Accused of Intervening in Assault Case Involving Secretary’s Daughter

New and serious allegations have emerged against the woman once known in Japan as the beautiful First Lady.

Kim Keon-hee (52), the wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, is facing charges including bribery mediation, violations of the Capital Markets Act, and violations of the Political Funds Act. Her first trial is scheduled to open on September 24.

“Kim is reportedly being held in a roughly four-tatami-mat-sized cell without air conditioning, given only underwear and towels. Her inmate number is 4398. She’s said to be exhausted from daily interrogations, unable to eat properly, and has grown noticeably thinner,” said a South Korean newspaper reporter.

The new allegation surrounding the weakened Kim involves her suspected intervention in a violent incident caused by the daughter of a former secretary in the Yoon administration, identified as Mr. A. The trouble occurred in July 2023.

A lenient punishment after two months

“The daughter of Mr. A, who was a third-grade elementary school student at the time, allegedly took a girl one grade below her to the restroom twice after school and repeatedly struck her face and head with a recorder and her fists. The victim suffered injuries including a damaged cornea, requiring about nine weeks to heal. However, the school’s response was slow. The disciplinary committee for dealing with violence wasn’t convened until two months after the incident.

What’s more, the punishment given to Mr. A’s daughter was extremely lenient—only a 10-day suspension from attendance and a class transfer. This was despite the victim’s parents demanding that the attacker be forcibly transferred to another school. Opposition lawmakers raised the issue in the National Assembly. On the same day the disciplinary committee met, Mr. A posted a photo with President Yoon on social media, prompting suspicions that he had exerted pressure to cover up the case,” said the same reporter.

When questioned in parliament and as the issue surfaced publicly, Mr. A abruptly resigned. There are now suspicions that Kim herself was involved in this cover-up of a school violence incident.

“Mr. A attended the same graduate school as Kim and enjoyed deep trust from President Yoon. Just before the issue came to light—in April 2023—he had been promoted from administrative officer to council member. What’s suspicious is that right after the violence occurred, Kim was found to have had an eight-minute phone call with the vice minister of education. It raises the possibility that she may have intervened in the cover-up,” the reporter added.

An arrogance as if she were a princess

Recently, the situation has begun to move. On September 8, at the request of a special prosecution team, the Office of Education submitted materials related to the assault case involving Mr. A’s daughter. Prosecutors are reportedly preparing to launch an investigation into Mrs. Kim’s possible involvement.

Pyon Jin-il, editor-in-chief of Korea Report and an expert on Korean affairs, commented:

“President Yoon is a former prosecutor general and knows the law better than anyone. Before he took office, the public believed that he, of all people, would never break the law. However, once in power, his behavior has resembled that of an all-powerful king. As for his wife, Mrs. Kim, she seems to have developed an arrogance and delusion as if she herself were a princess.

In Mrs. Kim’s case, instances of mixing public and private matters—such as this suspected interference in a violence case—are being revealed one after another. The number of charges against her is increasing by the day. If the sentences from multiple trials are combined, she could be facing punishment equivalent to a life sentence. Her conduct is unprecedented for a First Lady.”

The crimes Mrs. Kim is expected to be charged with are indeed serious. She is accused of conspiring with the former chairman of the imported car dealer “Deutsche Motors” to manipulate the company’s stock price, earning illicit profits of around 86 million yen. It is said that the total profits she gained exceeded 100 million yen, making this one of the most serious social scandals in South Korea’s history.