Worst arrears of over 200 million yen..! Former First Lady of Korea “Her mother owns 21 properties” and the whole family is rich!

The trial of Kim Keon-hee, 53, the wife of former South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol, who has been the focus of much attention in Japan as the “Beautiful First Lady,” is drawing attention. The trial began in September of this year, following the resignation of former President Yun in April 2013, and is continuing today.

Kim is charged with more than 10 counts, including rigging stock prices. The total amount of bribery amounts to more than 390 million won (about $41 million). If the amount of bribery is more than 100 million won (about 11 million yen), the defendant could be sentenced to life imprisonment in South Korea. Her husband, Yun, has also been indicted on charges including civil disturbance, making this the first time in South Korean history that a presidential couple has been arrested together,” said a South Korean newspaper reporter.

But the troubles that remain a stain on South Korea’s political history are not limited to the Yun and Kim couples. Kim’s mother, Choi Eun-soon, 79, has also been the focus of domestic and international criticism.

Choi is in arrears of 2.5 billion won (about 260 million yen) in taxes, one of the worst in Korea. Despite this, he failed to pay the delinquent levies by the final payment deadline of December 15 of this year.

Choi owns 21 properties in the country. Among them is a prime building in Seoul that he purchased for 4.3 billion won (about $450 million). He acquired it at the end of 2004, but it is now worth nearly 9 billion won (about 940 million yen) due to soaring real estate prices. The local governments are planning to seize the real estate owned by Choi and force him to sell it through a public asset management organization.

Sentenced to one year in prison for falsifying certificates

Choi is suspected of having lived a rich life by earning a large amount of money through illicit means. Mr. Shinichi Hen, editor-in-chief of “Korea Report” and an expert on Korean affairs, explains.

“Choi is alleged to have falsified documents when he purchased land in Seongnam City in northwestern Gyeonggi Province.” It’s alleged that he falsified balance certificates to make it look like 34.9 billion won (about 3.7 billion yen) was deposited in the bank on four occasions between April and October 2001. According to the later indictment, he allegedly borrowed billions of won (several hundred million yen) from the victims using the false certificates but did not repay them (he was sentenced to one year in prison in November ’23 for forging bankbook balance certificates).

The land purchased was later used for an expressway and the price skyrocketed. They must have known about the expressway project in advance. Yun, the husband of the daughter (Kim), was previously at the top of the judiciary, serving as the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutor’s Office Director and the Prosecutor General. I think he naively believed that with the authority of his son-in-law, some wrongdoing would be overlooked. It is said that Yoon purchased real estate one after another, made money through gray money, and lived a rich life with his whole family.

The special prosecutors in South Korea interviewed not only Choi but also Kim’s brother, a businessman, as key witnesses. Investigations are underway to determine if there were any other wrongdoings in the Kim family.