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Prosecutors to question ex-first lady on election interference scandal

Published: 12 May. 2025, 17:58

Former first lady Kim Keon Hee [YONHAP]

Prosecutors have summoned Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, for questioning as a suspect in an investigation into allegations of election interference involving political broker Myung Tae-kyun.

According to legal sources on Monday, the special investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office handling the Myung Tae-kyun case recently sent a summons to Kim requesting her appearance on Wednesday. She is being investigated as a suspect on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act.

Kim is suspected of receiving polling services free of charge from Myung during the last presidential election. In return, she allegedly helped secure the nomination of Kim Young-sun, a former People Power Party lawmaker, in the parliamentary by-election for the Changwon Uichang constituency in South Gyeongsang held on June 1, 2022.

Additional allegations suggest that the former first lady was involved in the nomination process for the 2022 local elections, including the mayoral candidacy for Pohang, North Gyeongsang, and that she influenced former prosecutor Kim Sang-min to run in Kim Young-sun’s former constituency in last year’s general election.

Kim Keon Hee has yet to release a statement regarding whether she will comply with the summons. However, speculation has emerged that she may refuse to appear, given her previously uncooperative stance in similar investigations. If she does not appear on Wednesday, prosecutors are expected to issue a second summons with a new date.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]