Former President Yoon and Wife Face Each Other in Court After 9 Months... Yoon Keeps His Eyes on Kim and Even Smiles

[The Financial News] Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, who were detained last year following an investigation by a special prosecutor, met in court on Monday for the first time in nine months. First Lady Kim Keon-hee, appearing as a witness, exercised her right to remain silent and did not testify. As a result, a former presidential couple has borne the disgrace of facing each other in court as defendant and witness.
Criminal Division 33 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Jin-gwan, held a hearing on the 14th for former President Yoon, who is charged with violating the Political Funds Act, and political broker Myung Tae-kyun.
Kim entered the courtroom wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, and a white face mask. Perhaps mindful of the fact that Judge Lee had instructed former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae to remove his mask during his trial on charges of engaging in key duties related to insurrection the previous day, she removed her mask for the swearing-in. Before questioning began, Judge Lee explained an internal rule, stating that "to ensure the credibility of testimony, the court restricts the wearing of masks during the examination of witnesses and defendants."
The main focus of the day was the encounter between Kim, appearing as a witness, and former President Yoon. Yoon was detained in July last year by the Special Prosecutor's Office for Insurrection led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, and Kim was taken into custody in August. This made them the first former presidential couple in constitutional history to be detained. Nine months later, they met for the first time since their detention, facing each other in court as defendant and witness.
From the moment Kim entered the courtroom, Yoon kept his eyes fixed on her. At one point, he even smiled while looking at her. However, as the special prosecutor’s team questioned Kim, his expression occasionally twisted into a grimace. Yoon was also seen consulting with his attorneys, Chae Myung-sung and Yu Jeong-hwa. Kim spent most of her time with her head bowed or looking at evidence presented by the special prosecutor’s team on the courtroom monitors. It was reported that Yoon and Kim briefly made eye contact during the proceedings.
The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Team, led by Special Counsel Min Joung-kie, pressed Kim by presenting messages exchanged between her and Myung. Based on statements Kim gave during questioning by the special counsel last year, the team argued that she and Myung had attempted to release opinion poll results favorable to Yoon.
When the special counsel’s team asked Kim, "Are you the spouse of defendant Yoon Suk Yeol?" she replied, "Yes." After that, however, she invoked her right to remain silent in response to all further questions from the special counsel and gave no substantive answers.
The court plans to hold a sentencing hearing for the defendants on the 12th of next month. At that hearing, prosecutors customarily present their sentencing recommendations, followed by the defense’s closing arguments and the defendants’ final statements.
Yoon and Myung are accused of providing and receiving opinion polling services free of charge from 2021 to 2022, in the run-up to the 2022 South Korean presidential election.
The special prosecutor’s team concluded that from June 2021 to March of the following year, roughly nine months, former President Yoon, in collusion with Kim, received about 270 million won worth of opinion polling services free of charge. Myung is accused of providing those free polling services, in the same amount and over the same period, to the former presidential couple. Investigators suspect that, in return, Myung used Kim and Yoon to secure the nomination of former People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Kim Young-sun as the party’s candidate in the 2022 parliamentary by-election.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter