A team led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki said it charged ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, with violating financial market and political funding laws, as well as receiving bribes, about two weeks after a court ordered her arrest.
The indictment of Kim, the wife of South Korea’s jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, came on Friday alongside charges filed against its former prime minister, widening the scope of investigations into Yoon’s administration and his attempt to cling to power by declaring martial law.
South Korea’s most serious political crisis in decades was ignited by Yoon when he attempted to force his agenda through an opposition-dominated legislature by declaring martial law on December 3, 2024. It lasted only hours but triggered months of turmoil that paralysed politics, disrupted foreign policy and rattled the economy.
Yoon was impeached, then removed from office in April and rearrested last month after his conservative party lost the presidency in an early election.
The new government has appointed three special prosecutors to investigate both the period of martial law and suspicions of corruption that dogged Yoon throughout his term in office.
A separate team led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-suk said former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was charged with abetting Yoon’s imposition of martial law, which investigators say amounted to a rebellion, as well as falsifying and destroying official documents, and lying under oath.
It was reported that dozens of people have been arrested or investigated over Yoon’s martial law debacle, corruption allegations involving his wife, and other controversies from his three years in office, including an alleged cover-up of a marine’s drowning death during a 2023 flood rescue operation.
Key suspects include former Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of planning martial law with Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly in an unsuccessful attempt to block lawmakers from voting to lift it.
More than 60 people were separately indicted for rioting at a Seoul court, which issued the warrant for Yoon’s first arrest in January.
In May, prosecutors had indicted former President Yoon Suk Yeol for abuse of authority.
According to Yonhap, the indictment was issued without an arrest warrant.
The special prosecution team investigating the case announced that Yoon has been indicted without physical detention on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights.
He allegedly ordered military and police forces to block access to the National Assembly on December 3, 2024, in connection with his failed attempt to impose martial law.