South Korea’s political landscape has been upended once again, as special prosecutors announced the indictment of Kim Keon Hee, the wife of jailed ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The charges, delivered on August 29, 2025, are the latest chapter in a saga that has gripped the nation for months, intertwining allegations of martial law, bribery, and political intrigue that have shaken the country’s trust in its leadership.
The story begins in December 2024, when Yoon Suk Yeol, facing a hostile, opposition-dominated legislature, abruptly declared martial law in a dramatic attempt to push through his stalled agenda. According to AP, the decree lasted only hours but ignited South Korea’s most severe political crisis in decades. The fallout was swift and severe: months of political paralysis, disruption to foreign policy, and economic uncertainty ensued. The move, widely condemned as unconstitutional, led to Yoon’s impeachment and removal from office in April 2025. He was rearrested in July 2025 after his conservative party lost a special election to select his successor.
As the dust settled, the new administration under liberal President Lee Jae Myung wasted no time in launching three separate special prosecutor inquiries into Yoon’s presidency. These investigations, as reported by Mathrubhumi, have focused on the martial law crisis, suspicions of corruption, and a series of scandals that have dogged Yoon and those closest to him. The inquiries have already swept up Yoon’s defense minister, safety minister, and senior military and police officials, all arrested for their roles in enforcing martial law.
But it is the indictment of Kim Keon Hee—on charges of violating financial market and political funding laws, stock fraud, and receiving bribes—that marks a historic first for South Korea. As South China Morning Post highlighted, never before has a former First Lady been jailed in the country’s history. Kim’s legal troubles, which have spanned over 15 years and involved business leaders, religious figures, and political brokers, have cast a long shadow over her husband’s turbulent presidency and inflicted lasting damage on his conservative party.
The charges against Kim are sweeping. According to Reuters, prosecutors allege she manipulated stocks between 2010 and 2012, earning 810 million won (about $583,510) in unfair profits. She is also accused of receiving bribes worth 80 million won—including two Chanel bags and a diamond necklace—from an official at the Unification Church, in exchange for using her influence to further the church’s business interests. The Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has denied institutional involvement, though it admitted regret over the actions of a former official.
Kim’s legal representatives have pushed back forcefully, denying all allegations and describing media reports about the gifts as “groundless speculation.” In a statement released through her lawyers after her indictment, Kim apologized for causing public concern but vowed to face trial head-on. “Just as moonlight shines brightly in the darkest night, I too will endure this time, looking to my truth and heart,” she said, pointedly avoiding any discussion of the specific charges against her.
Her arrest on August 12, 2025, was a watershed moment. As AP noted, Kim is the first former First Lady to be jailed in South Korea, a country where nearly every president or their close family members have faced legal trouble near the end of their terms. The last two presidents from earlier iterations of Yoon’s party—Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak—were both sentenced to lengthy prison terms for corruption before being pardoned and released.
The scandal has also ensnared Han Duck-soo, Yoon’s former prime minister. On the same day as Kim’s indictment, Han was charged with abetting Yoon’s imposition of martial law—a move prosecutors say amounted to rebellion—as well as falsifying and destroying official documents and committing perjury. According to Reuters, Han was the highest-ranking official who could have stopped Yoon’s unconstitutional order. “The defendant was the highest constitutional institution that could have stopped the president’s unconstitutional, illegitimate martial law,” special prosecution spokesperson Park Ji-young said in a televised briefing.
Han, a veteran technocrat who served under five presidents, was thrust into the spotlight as acting president after Yoon’s impeachment. He later resigned to run in the June 2025 presidential election but withdrew after failing to secure his party’s nomination. Han has maintained that he conveyed his opposition to Yoon’s martial law plan, yet prosecutors allege he played an “active” role by attempting to legitimize the decree through a Cabinet Council meeting. The Seoul Central District Court recently dismissed a request for Han’s arrest, citing little risk of him fleeing or destroying evidence.
The fallout from the martial law debacle has been far-reaching. Dozens of people, including former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, have been arrested or investigated for their roles in the crisis, with more than 60 indicted for rioting at the Seoul court that issued Yoon’s first arrest warrant in January 2025. The chaos and violence that erupted in the wake of Yoon’s actions have left deep scars on the nation’s political fabric.
Amid the turmoil, the investigations have continued to widen. Special prosecutors, appointed after Yoon’s ouster and under President Lee’s watch, are pursuing separate cases into the couple’s alleged abuses of power and financial misconduct. Kim and Yoon are suspected of exerting undue influence on the conservative People Power Party to nominate a favored candidate in a 2022 legislative by-election, allegedly at the behest of election broker Myung Tae-kyun. Myung is accused of conducting free opinion surveys for Yoon using manipulated data, possibly helping him secure the party’s presidential nomination in March 2022.
For Kim Keon Hee, once a wealthy businesswoman and influential force behind her husband’s rise, the fall has been dramatic. Her long trail of scandals—some dating back more than a decade—have not only overshadowed Yoon’s presidency but also contributed to the conservative party’s political woes. Her public apology after the indictment, while stopping short of admitting guilt, acknowledged the magnitude of the crisis: “I will quietly attend the trials,” she said, signaling her intention to fight the charges in court.
The indictments of Kim and Han come at a time when South Korea is struggling to restore public trust in its institutions. The country’s history of presidential scandals—where nearly every leader since democratization has faced legal trouble—continues to haunt its politics. Yet the current crisis, rooted in a failed attempt to impose martial law and exacerbated by allegations of deep-seated corruption, feels especially acute.
As the special prosecutors press ahead with their inquiries, the nation watches closely, wondering whether this latest reckoning will finally bring about meaningful change—or simply add another chapter to South Korea’s long saga of political scandal and redemption.