0
Kim Keon-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, leaves the Seoul Central District Court after attending a detention hearing on August 12. She faces charges including influence peddling, violation of the Political Funds Act, and capital market crimes. / Source: Joint Press Corps

Former first lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol, exercised her right to remain silent during her second interrogation by the special counsel on August 18, just days after being taken into custody. The special probe team, led by Special Counsel Min Jung-gi, announced that she will be summoned again on August 20.

Kim is under investigation on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act, and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (influence peddling).

She was questioned from 10 a.m. to around 4 p.m. on August 18, though actual interrogation lasted only about 3 hours and 12 minutes. The morning session focused on allegations of meddling in party nominations and election interference, while the afternoon addressed suspicions related to the Deutsche Motors stock case.

According to Special Counsel Oh Jeong-hee, Kim “mostly refused to answer, occasionally responding with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t remember.’”

This marks the second time she has invoked her right to silence, after her initial interrogation following detention ended in about four hours.

On the same day, Kim Ye-seong—often described as Kim Keon-hee’s aide—also appeared before investigators for questioning, though no face-to-face cross-examination with Kim took place.