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Park Chan-kyong

For the first time in nine months, former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol finally saw his wife again on Tuesday. He was the defendant. She was the witness. She barely looked at him.
The reunion, their first since his arrest following a failed martial law declaration that ended his presidency, lasted all of 30 minutes. The couple made eye contact only once.
Yoon looked visibly thinner, his face gaunt and marked with age spots, his once-dark hair now almost entirely silver.
Kim Keon-hee wore her usual court uniform – black suit, white shirt, hair in a greying ponytail – and removed her face mask only to speak.

The former first lady, who was herself convicted in January on corruption charges, tersely confirmed her relationship to Yoon as he, seated at the defendant’s table in a suit bearing an inmate number tag, watched her intently.
Yoon kept turning towards the witness box throughout the session, seemingly trying to communicate through glances. At one point, he was seen wiping the corner of his eye. Kim largely stared straight ahead.
“Kim’s frostiness towards her husband … may reflect her simmering anger over the failed martial law attempt,” said analyst Jung Suk-koo, a former executive editor of the progressive Hankyoreh newspaper.
“The couple claims Kim had no prior knowledge of the decree, but that is a hard sell for many.”


It is not difficult to see why. According to investigators, the first words Kim said to Yoon after the botched decree that plunged South Korea into its worst constitutional crisis for years were: “You ruined everything I had planned.”
Prosecutors say they have found no evidence linking Kim to the martial law decision, however.
Tuesday’s hearing centred on allegations that Yoon and Kim colluded to receive free opinion poll results on 58 occasions in 2021 and 2022 from Myung Tae-kyun, a political power broker who also moonlighted as a fortune-teller.
In return, the couple allegedly helped a former lawmaker secure a ruling People Power Party nomination in a 2022 by-election at Myung’s request. Both Myung and the former lawmaker were later arrested for violating political funding laws.
Kim refused to answer more than 40 questions levelled at her by the special prosecutor’s team led by Min Joong-ki on Tuesday. As she rose to leave after the session ended, Yoon nodded in her direction. She did not look back.
‘He’s a total fool’
Kim is widely believed to have wielded extraordinary influence over Yoon, whom she married in 2012 when she was 39 and he was 51.
That influence reportedly extended into personnel appointments, state affairs and party politics throughout his presidency, creating a perception that became politically toxic as the scandals mounted.
Among her detractors, she was dubbed “VIP1”, implying she outranked Yoon himself, who was referred to as “VIP2”.
That dynamic was laid bare in an audio recording of a phone conversation with a journalist from 2021, in which Kim was heard saying: “My husband is an idiot. I have to take care of everything for him to function.”

“He’s a total fool,” she added. “I only keep him around because he listens well, even if he’s stupid. Who would want to live with someone like that?”
In January, a lower court convicted Kim of accepting bribes from the controversial Unification Church, but acquitted her of suspected stock manipulation between 2010 and 2012.
It also acquitted her of the opinion poll charges. Prosecutors appealed, however, seeking a four-year prison sentence and 137 million won (US$93,000) in forfeiture at a Seoul High Court hearing last Wednesday. A verdict is expected on April 28.

In a separate trial on Monday involving former justice minister Park Sung-jae, who faces insurrection charges linked to Yoon’s martial law decree, Kim – appearing as a witness – denied any prior knowledge of the measure.
Asked whether Yoon had mentioned a possible state of emergency, she said simply: “No.” Pressed further on whether there had been any hints before or after the declaration, she replied: “Absolutely none.”
In her final statement during last week’s appeal hearing, Kim said she deeply regretted her “thoughtless actions” and asked for forgiveness.
A president’s fall
Yoon is currently standing trial in eight separate criminal proceedings linked to his martial law declaration, an alleged cover-up surrounding the death of a marine during a flood rescue operation in 2023 and the ex-first couple’s alleged ties to Myung and another broker.
The martial law episode in December 2024 was the most consequential.
Though the order lasted only hours before lawmakers voted to block it, it drew immediate comparisons to South Korea’s authoritarian past, when emergency powers were used to suppress dissent, and triggered mass protests across Seoul.
Yoon, who had already been battling falling approval ratings and a string of controversies involving his inner circle, was later impeached and removed from office after months of political turmoil.


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South Korea’s Kim Keon-hee ignores Yoon in frosty courtroom reunion

A combination photo shows South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol (left) exiting court in January and his wife, former first lady Kim Keon-hee, arriving at the special prosecutor’s office in Seoul in August last year. Photos: EPA/AFP

Kim Keon-hee, wearing a face mask, talks with her lawyer at the Seoul Central District Court in December. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Happier times: Kim Keon-hee and Yoon Suk-yeol visit Lithuania in July 2023 to attend a Nato summit. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

South Korea’s former justice minister Park Sung-jae arrives at Seoul Central District Court on March 23 to attend a hearing in his trial on insurrection charges. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korea’s Yoon slammed for invoking Jesus in his message sent from prison

A news report on the sentencing trial of South Korean former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s insurrection case in February, stemming from his short-lived December 2024 declaration of martial law. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol gather in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul in January. Photo: AFP

A banner showing South Korea’s ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee, near the Seoul Central District Court in January. The banner reads: “God will resurrect and restore Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife.” Photo: AFP

South Korea’s ex-first lady Kim Keon-hee gets 20 months’ jail for corruption

A supporter stands in front of a banner showing South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee near the Central District Court in Seoul on January 16. Photo: AFP

Supporters of Yoon and Kim gather outside the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday. Photo: AP

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The hearing lasted all of half an hour. Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, appearing as a witness, made eye contact only once


The hearing lasted all of half an hour. Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, appearing as a witness, made eye contact only once.


Yoon Suk-yeol

South Korea martial law 2024

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South Korea’s Kim Keon-hee ignores Yoon in frosty courtroom reunion

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The hearing lasted all of half an hour. Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, appearing as a witness, made eye contact only once

The hearing lasted all of half an hour. Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, appearing as a witness, made eye contact only once