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Warrants reveals first lady berated bodyguards for failing to prevent husband's arrest

Published: 20 Mar. 2025, 18:42

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 6, 2024. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

First lady Kim Keon Hee purportedly berated the Presidential Security Service (PSS) for failing to stop investigators from detaining President Yoon Suk Yeol in January, according to sources Wednesday.

Kim's alleged remark was described in arrest warrants police sought for two senior PSS officials — acting chief Kim Seong-hoon and bodyguard division chief Lee Kwang-woo — on Monday on charges of obstructing investigators' first attempt to detain Yoon on January 3., according to the police and prosecution sources.

The warrants reportedly described the first lady as berating a PSS officer after investigators succeeded at their second detention attempt on Jan. 15, saying, “What's the point of carrying a gun? You're supposed to stop something like that.”

She also allegedly expressed her despair by claiming to want to “shoot Chairman Lee Jae-myung and then die myself,” referring to the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.

The PSS officer allegedly reported the incident to his superiors.

Yoon's office denied the first lady's alleged remarks. “We do not believe it is true,” the presidential office said refusing to respond further.

Yonhap