Ex-first lady used status for gifts, influenced appointments: special counsel

A special prosecutor team that investigated Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced its final findings Monday after a 180-day probe. The findings addressed allegations raised both before and during Yoon’s presidency and included additional details uncovered by the probe. The special prosecutor team said in their report that Kim exploited her status as the president’s spouse to receive expensive gifts and intervene broadly in personnel and candidate nominations, undermining Korea’s public systems. “It was clearly established that Kim played a leading role from the early stages of the former president’s entry into politics and continued to do so after his election,” assistant special counsel Oh Jeong-hee said, calling their relationship “a political collective.” Launched in July, the team led by Min Joong-ki, former chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court, investigated 16 charges against Kim, including stock price manipulation and bribery linked to the Unification Church. Earlier this month, prosecutors sought a 15-year prison sentence an