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Former First Lady Kim Keon-hee leaves the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho, Seoul, after a pretrial detention hearing on September 12. / Source: Joint Press Corps

The Seoul Central District Court has approved limited media access to film former First Lady Kim Keon-hee as she appears in the defendant’s seat during her first trial on September 24.

According to the court’s Criminal Division 27, presided over by Judge Woo In-seong, filming will be permitted only before the proceedings formally begin. Once the trial starts, no images or video will be allowed. Under Supreme Court rules, courtroom filming normally requires the defendant’s consent, but the bench may authorize it unilaterally if deemed in the public interest.

Kim was indicted last month by the special counsel team investigating her on multiple charges, including violations of the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act, and aggravated bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Prosecutors allege that between 2009 and 2012, she participated as a financial backer in the Deutsch Motors stock-rigging scheme, earning more than 800 million won in illicit profits. She also faces accusations of receiving polling data free of charge 58 times from political broker Myung Tae-kyun during the 2022 presidential election campaign and using her influence to secure a parliamentary nomination for former lawmaker Kim Young-sun.

Additionally, Kim is accused of accepting luxury gifts, including an expensive necklace, from the Unification Church via close confidant Jeon Seong-bae (“Geonjin Beopsa”) in 2022 in exchange for lobbying on church-related issues.

Kim is the first former First Lady in South Korea’s history to stand trial while under detention.