Kim Kun-hee detention extended as probe continues

“I wonder if I have to die for my husband to survive,” Former First Lady Kim Kun-hee reportedly said on Aug. 19 while meeting with lawyer Shin Pyung, who was once called a mentor to former President Yoon Suk-yeol. She is also reported to have expressed feelings of betrayal toward former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon.

Shin told The Dong-A Ilbo on Aug. 20 that he visited her at the Seoul Southern Detention Center in Guro District the previous day. “The moment she sat in the visiting room chair, she immediately said this,” he said. “Lately, she seems preoccupied with this thought.” She reportedly also voiced frustration regarding Seo Hee Construction Chairman Lee Bong-kwan, saying he “is working with the Lee Jae-myung administration to destroy us.” Lee, who allegedly delivered luxury items worth about 100 million won, including a necklace, brooch, and earrings, as bribes, had previously submitted a confession and the actual Van Cleef & Arpels necklace to the Kim Kun-hee Special Investigation team led by Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki.

According to Shin, she lamented Han Dong-hoon, saying, “How could Han Dong-hoon do this?” and “If he had not betrayed us, unlimited glory would have awaited him.” Shin explained that these remarks arose in a conversation suggesting that the conflict with Han was the starting point of all these events. Han, who was initially nominated as the first justice minister under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, fell out with the former president after being appointed emergency response committee chief of the People Power Party at the end of December 2023 in connection with the special investigation. During last year’s period of martial law, he publicly backed Yoon’s impeachment, signaling a complete break between the two.

The special investigation team announced on Aug. 20 that the court had extended her detention through Aug. 31. Her initial detention period ran from Aug. 12, when the arrest warrant was issued, through Aug. 21. Under the Criminal Procedure Act, prosecutors may detain a suspect for 10 days, including the period of arrest, and can extend it once for an additional 10 days. The team reportedly decided that the extension was unavoidable due to insufficient progress in questioning. A third interrogation, originally scheduled for Aug. 20, was postponed to the afternoon of Aug. 21 after her legal team submitted a handwritten statement saying she was “not in good health and unable to attend.”

Investigators plan to question her on Aug. 21 regarding allegations of lobbying involving monk Geonjin and the Unification Church. In her previous two interrogations, investigators examined suspicions of interference in candidate selection by Myung Tae-kyun and stock manipulation related to Deutsche Motors. The team intends to conduct additional questioning during the extended detention period before formally indicting her.