Ex-South Korean First Lady’s Family Amasses Fortune Amid 200M Yen in Back Taxes
Defendant Kim in court. The “4398” on her chest is her detention number (from the first trial in September ’25)The trial of Kim Keon-hee (53), former First Lady of South Korea and wife of ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol—who gained attention in Japan as the beautiful First Lady—is drawing attention. The trial began in September of this year, after ex-President Yoon’s resignation in April ’25, and is ongoing.
“Defendant Kim is accused of more than ten crimes, including stock price manipulation. The total amount of bribes is said to exceed 390 million won (about 41 million yen). In South Korea, if the amount of bribery exceeds 100 million won (about 11 million yen), a life sentence is possible. Her husband, defendant Yoon, is also indicted for crimes including insurrection, making this the first time in South Korean history that a presidential couple has been arrested together,” said a South Korean newspaper reporter.
However, the scandals that leave a stain on South Korean political history are not limited to the couple. Kim’s mother, Choi Eun-sun (79), is also under scrutiny from both domestic and international observers.
“Choi has the worst tax arrears in the country, totaling 2.5 billion won (about 260 million yen) in taxes (including local administrative levies). Yet, she did not pay the overdue penalties by the final deadline of December 15 this year.
Choi owns 21 properties in South Korea. Among them is a prime building in Seoul purchased for 4.3 billion won (about 450 million yen). She acquired it at the end of ’16, and due to the recent real estate boom, it is now valued at nearly 9 billion won (about 940 million yen). Local governments plan to seize Choi’s properties and forcibly sell them through public asset management organizations,” the reporter added.
One-year prison sentence for forgery of certificates
Choi is suspected of living a wealthy lifestyle by illegally earning large sums. Shin Il-byeon, editor-in-chief of Korea Report and an expert on South Korean affairs, explained:
“When Choi purchased land in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, she is said to have forged documents. Between April and October ’13, she allegedly falsified bank balance certificates to show that 34.9 billion won (about 3.7 billion yen) had been deposited four times. According to the later indictment, she used these false certificates to borrow tens of billions of won (hundreds of millions of yen) from victims but did not repay them. (She was sentenced to one year in prison in November ’23 for forgery of bank account balance certificates.)
The land she purchased later became highway land, and its price surged. She likely had prior knowledge of the highway plans. Kim’s husband, defendant Yoon, previously served as Seoul Central District Prosecutor and Prosecutor General, reaching the top of the judiciary. With the authority of a son-in-law, she may have thought some wrongdoing would be overlooked. She is said to have continuously bought properties and earned money through gray methods, maintaining a wealthy lifestyle as a family.”
South Korea’s special prosecution has questioned not only Choi as an important witness but also Kim’s brother, a businessman. Investigations are ongoing into whether the Kim family committed any other wrongdoing.
PHOTO.： Reuters/Afro