Seoul, Aug 20 The detention period for South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee has been extended by 10 days to the end of this month, special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team said Wednesday.
The team said in a press release that a court decided Tuesday to extend Kim’s detention period to August 31, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Her first detention period was due to end Thursday, 10 days after the court issued a warrant to arrest her on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favours.
Under the current law, the special counsel has to indict the suspect within the extended detention period, and no further extension is permitted.
The special counsel team has twice called in Kim for questioning about the corruption allegations, and a third round of questioning is slated for Thursday.
Later Wednesday, the team also decided to extend the detention period of Kim Ye-seong, known as the “butler” of the former first lady’s family, to September 1.
He has been facing allegations of embezzling 3.38 billion won (US$2.4 million) from IMS Mobility, a company he has a stake in.
The special counsel team has been investigating allegations that IMS Mobility unfairly received investments from several companies, including Kakao Mobility Corp., in 2023.
Considering that IMS Mobility was effectively in a state of capital impairment at the time, special prosecutors suspect the companies made the investment in consideration of their connection to Kim and the former first lady.
Kim Keon Hee was placed in custody at the detention centre in southwestern Seoul last week after a court issued a warrant to arrest her on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favours.
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