Former South Korean First Lady, Kim Keon-hee has appeared in court for her first hearing in a corruption trial involving bribery and stock manipulation.
Kim becomes the first spouse of a former President to stand trial after she was accused of violating the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation.
With her face partially covered with a mask and wearing her inmate number, 4398, Kim, 53, was brought to the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, from detention, where she had been held since August 12, 2025.
During an identity check from the bench, Kim told the court that she was currently “unemployed” and did not want a jury trial.
The former first lady’s charge under the Capital Markets Act is related to claims that she conspired with the former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer, and a close associate to manipulate the company’s stock prices and make 810 million won ($581,000) in profits in two years, between 2010 and 2012.
Kim’s second charge is based on allegations that she and her husband, ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol, received free opinion polls from a self-proclaimed power broker, for free, ahead of the 2021 elections, which Yoon went on to win.
However, the trade-off for the free polling was securing the nomination of the former People Power Party representative, Kim Young-sun, for a by-election later that year.
Kim’s final charge, related to corruption, is connected to her alleged acceptance of luxury bags and jewellery from the Unification Church in 2022.
The special counsel team investigating her case has requested the court freeze all the assets pending the trial.
The Head of the church, Han Hak-ja, was arrested on Tuesday, September 23, 2024, for bribing Kim, a claim that Han and her church have denied.
Meanwhile, Yoon, Kim’s husband, is also standing trial for his failed attempt to impose martial law in the country in December of last year.
The case means South Korea now has both a former President and a former First Lady simultaneously facing criminal proceedings. Kim has long faced scrutiny, with lingering questions about her alleged role in stock manipulation.
Legal experts say that the trial could see the former presidential couple summoned together over their alleged role in influencing parliamentary elections.
Her husband Yoon, as President, vetoed three special investigation bills passed by the opposition-controlled parliament that sought to probe the allegations against Kim, with the last veto issued in late November.
South Korea’s Ex-First Lady Denies Corruption Charges At Trial
At the opening hearing of her corruption trial on Wednesday, former South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee denied all allegations.
Her lawyers asserted that she was not involved in any stock manipulation scheme nor did she interfere in candidate nominations for elections.
On the stock manipulation case, Kim’s lawyers pointed to past decisions by the prosecution to drop all charges against her and claimed she did not conspire in the scheme.
They said that the opinion polls were conducted by the power broker alone and sent to Kim’s mobile messenger app and she had no need for them as multiple similar surveys were being conducted by her husband’s campaign.
The luxury gifts, they said, were never received by Kim. News reports that the church official had sent a text message to the shaman about a “delivery accident” were likely true, they added.
The hearing ended after 40 minutes.The court said that it will hold a preparatory hearing on Friday before holding formal hearings every Wednesday and Friday starting October 15, 2025, and completing the examination of evidence by the end of December.
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