The wife of former South Korean President Yun Suk-yul has been arrested and charged with various criminal acts, including bribery, stock manipulation and election interference.
Granting the special prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant on Tuesday evening, the Seoul Central District Court said that Kim Keon Hee's continued freedom would be risky, particularly due to the possibility of evidence being destroyed.
Her interrogation lasted several hours. She is being held in a detention center in southern Seoul, separate from the facility where Jun is being held.
Investigators suspect that Kim and Jun exerted improper influence on the conservative People's Party to nominate a particular candidate in the 2022 legislative by-election, allegedly at the request of election broker Myung Tae-kyun.
Myung faces accusations that he conducted polls for Jun using manipulated data that likely helped him win the party's presidential primary before the country's presidential election.
Kim has been accused of corruption, including receiving gifts of great value.
An investigation team earlier on Tuesday arrested one of Kim's close associates after his arrival from Vietnam, and is also investigating suspicions that he used his relationship with the former first lady to secure millions of dollars in business investments for his financially struggling company.
The investigation against Kim is one of three special prosecutors launched under the new government in Seoul, targeting the presidency of Jun, who was removed from office in April and re-arrested last month for briefly imposing a state of emergency in December.
Kim and Yul are the first former presidential couple to be imprisoned simultaneously on multiple criminal charges.
While in office, Jun dismissed calls to investigate his wife as baseless political attacks and vetoed several bills calling for an independent investigation into the allegations.
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