Overview
- Investigators arrested and indicted the former first lady on charges spanning stock manipulation, illegal receipt of opinion polls and luxury gifts, and they previously asked a court to impose a 15-year sentence and seize 2 billion won.
- The team said it placed 20 people in custody and filed 66 indictments overall, including against Kim and former President Yoon Suk Yeol, while also charging high-profile figures such as Rep. Kweon Song-dong, Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon and his wife, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
- Prosecutors allege Kim conspired with associates tied to Deutsch Motors to rig shares between 2010 and 2012, generating 810 million won in illicit gains.
- Alongside earlier counts, the team additionally indicted her on Friday for accepting bribes for mediation, and it widened its probe to alleged mass recruitment of Unification Church followers for the People Power Party and to further luxury gifts-for-favors claims.
- The special counsel noted gaps in evidence on some lines of inquiry and said it did not prove any direct link to Yoon, while Kim denies wrongdoing and is slated for sentencing on Jan. 28, 2026.