First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, is seen returning home after being questioned as a suspect at the special prosecutor's office led by Min Jung-ki in the KT Gwanghwamun Building West, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 6th. Yonhap News

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-seop = The special prosecutor's team, led by Min Jung-ki, investigating allegations against First Lady Kim Keon-hee, has preemptively requested an arrest warrant for Ms. Kim on the 7th.

This comes 36 days after the investigation officially began with a plaque unveiling ceremony on the 2nd of last month, and just one day after Ms. Kim's first summons for questioning.

The special prosecutor's team announced through a press release on the same day, "An arrest warrant was requested for Ms. Kim Keon-hee around 1:21 PM."

It is understood that the special prosecutor's team questioned Ms. Kim on the previous day regarding allegations of stock price manipulation at Deutsch Motors (violation of the Capital Markets Act), interference in nominations (violation of the Political Funds Act and Public Official Election Act, and bribery), and allegations of soliciting favors from Geonjin Beopsa (bribery).

These allegations are believed to be included in the arrest warrant request for Ms. Kim.

The Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation allegations claim that Ms. Kim participated as a financier ("jeonju" - funder) in a stock price manipulation case that occurred between 2009 and 2012.

In this case, nine individuals, including former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo, received confirmed guilty verdicts, and the court's judgment stated that three of Ms. Kim's accounts and one account belonging to her mother, Choi Eun-soon, were used for market manipulation.

Ms. Kim is also accused of interfering in the nomination process for the People Power Party in the 2022 by-elections and the general election last year, and of improperly accepting requests from the Unification Church through Jeon Seong-bae of Geonjin Beopsa between April and August 2022 regarding church matters.

It is reported that Ms. Kim, while not exercising her right to remain silent during the previous day's questioning, largely denied the allegations.

Some had speculated that the special prosecutor's team would summon Ms. Kim several more times to confirm the facts of other cases, such as the allegations regarding the change of route for the Yangpyeong Expressway and the alleged special development privileges in the Yangpyeong Gongheung district, before requesting an arrest warrant. However, the special prosecutor's team opted to secure her custody immediately.

This is analyzed to be due to the expectation that Ms. Kim will continue to deny the related allegations, the sufficient evidence and testimonies to prove the charges have already been secured, and a high risk of evidence tampering.

The court's pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) is expected to take place early next week.

younglee@yna.co.kr

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