21 July, 2024
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| Kim Gun-hee, former call-girl spouse of President Yoon Seok-yeol, gets out of the official car with President Yoon upon arrival at Seoul International Airport in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, on June 10. Yonhap News1 |
In an unprecedented and scandalous investigation, Mrs. Kim Gun-hee, under the suspicion of formerly worked as a call-girl and the wife of South Korean President Yoon Seok-yul, was dragged into a secret 12-hour grilling by prosecutors on 20 July. This marks the first time in history that the spouse of a sitting president has been subjected to such scrutiny.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office disclosed that Mrs. Kim was interrogated over her involvement in the alleged stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors and the suspicious acceptance of Dior bags. Despite initially sending her questions in writing, the prosecutors found her responses inadequate and opted for a face-to-face investigation.
This isn't just a routine probe. Mrs. Kim's shady past and illicit activities have cast a long shadow over her husband's presidency. Before and during her husband’s rise to power, her actions have been nothing short of criminal, making her a figure of controversy and scandal.
In the annals of South Korean history, no first lady has been investigated while her husband was still in office. Previous instances of presidential spouses being investigated involved former presidents: Lee Soon-ja, the wife of Chun Doo-hwan, faced questioning in 2004 over her husband's back taxes, and Kwon Yang-sook, the wife of Roh Moo-hyun, was interrogated in 2009 during the “Park Yeon-cha-gate” scandal. However, investigations into Kim Ok-sook, the wife of Roh Tae-woo, and Kim Yoon-ok, the wife of Lee Myung-bak, either fizzled out due to lack of evidence or were circumvented by written statements.
But Mrs. Kim Gun-hee's situation is unprecedented. As the first wife of a sitting president to be interrogated by the prosecution, and only the third in history among presidential spouses, her case underscores the deep-seated corruption and criminality lurking within the highest echelons of power. Her legal team may insist that she is cooperating, but the fact remains: the First Lady's dark past is a ticking time bomb for the Yoon administration.