South Korea Indicts Former First Lady Kim Keon-hee on Bribery, Ex-PM Han Duck-soo on Martial Law Role
South Korean prosecutors have indicted former First Lady Kim Keon-hee on bribery and stock manipulation charges, alongside ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who faces multiple counts linked to his alleged involvement in former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law.
According to Yonhap news agency, Han, 76, was indicted on Friday for aiding and abetting Yoon’s martial law declaration, as well as perjury and falsifying official documents. A team of special prosecutors had been investigating him for weeks.
Assistant Special Counsel Park Ji-young said Han played an “active” role by trying to push Yoon’s decree through a Cabinet Council meeting to lend it “procedural legitimacy,” despite privately expressing opposition. Han insists he made clear to Yoon that he did not support the plan.
Meanwhile, Kim Keon-hee faces charges of accepting illicit gifts from the controversial Unification Church and engaging in a stock manipulation scheme. Her lawyers dismissed the allegations, calling some media reports about the gifts “baseless speculation.”
Both Kim and Yoon are currently in detention. Yoon, who was impeached in April, is already on trial for insurrection over his martial law bid. His presidency had been plagued by corruption scandals involving his wife, which severely weakened his conservative People Power Party (PPP).
Han briefly served as acting president twice during the political chaos that followed Yoon’s martial law declaration between December and May, before resigning to run for president himself. He failed to clinch the PPP ticket.
The June 3 election was ultimately won by opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, who famously live-streamed himself scaling the walls of the National Assembly to help overturn Yoon’s decree.
