The wife of imprisoned former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is now also being detained after her arrest on charges of bribery.
Kim Keon-hee, the former first lady, is accused of accepting illicit financial gifts and participating in a stock manipulation scheme while her husband was in office.
“Just as moonlight shines brightly in the darkest night, I too will endure this time, looking to my truth and heart,” she told the press through a statement relayed by her attorneys.
Authorities accuse Kim of violating the Political Funds Act, the Capital Markets Act, and other legal restrictions on finances of government officials.
Most prominent among the accusations is the claim that the former first lady received multiple luxurious gifts from leaders of the Unification Church.
The church is an international new religious movement founded by South Korean minister Sun Myung Moon, who claimed to have been visited by Jesus Christ in 1935 and commissioned to renew his work of salvation.
Kim is alleged to have received designer bags and fine jewelry from the Unification Church in exchange for influence in support of the church’s projects.
Church leadership has denied institutional culpability in the gifts, calling them a “personal wrongdoing.”
Kim has denied all allegations, and her legal team has dismissed the charges as rooted in baseless speculation.
Her husband, Yoon, declared martial law in December, ostensibly as part of a nationwide campaign to root out North Korean sympathizers and anti-South Korean actors within the government.
Widespread outrage and protest from citizens and fellow lawmakers forced Yoon to withdraw the martial law order and apologize for the decision.
Former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was also indicted on Friday on allegations that he abetted Yoon’s “insurrection” when he declared martial law. He was indicted without detention on the charges of perjury and falsifying documents to the benefit of Yoon amid the national upheaval.
“The defendant was the highest constitutional authority who could have prevented the president’s unconstitutional and illegal martial law declaration,” said assistant special counsel Park Ji-young. “Despite knowing that the president would violate the constitutional order and fundamental rights of the people, the defendant instead acted to provide procedural legitimacy and provided assistance.”
The newest round of arrests and indictments may risk irking President Donald Trump, who voiced displeasure at the “purge” happening in South Korea before and during his meeting with current President Lee Jae-myung.
“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution,” Trump wrote via Truth Social on Monday. “We can’t have that and do business there. I am seeing the new President today at the White House.”
His tone was more cordial during the meeting at the White House, but he still remarked that he had “heard bad things.”
“I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’ll be finding out,” Trump said while meeting with Lee.
Yoon, who remains in prison awaiting trial, was closer ideologically to the Trump administration and promised to strengthen ties further between Seoul and Washington, D.C.