Overview

• Kim Geon-hee was arrested in the early hours of August 13 on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act over suspected stock-price manipulation.
• The Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant late on August 12 after prosecutors warned she could destroy crucial evidence.
• Prosecutors allege she received luxury items from the Unification Church in return for political favors and are investigating about 16 related incidents.
• Her detention marks the first-ever arrest of a former South Korean president’s spouse and comes while her husband, Yoon Suk-yeol, is jailed on insurrection and obstruction charges.
• The independent Special Prosecution Office, created in June to probe high-level corruption, has expanded its inquiry into political-religious networks, including recent raids on Unification Church offices.