South Korea: Ex-first lady attends 1st hearing of corruption trial

Seoul, Sep 24 (IANS) Former South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee appeared at the first hearing of her corruption trial Wednesday, dressed in a black suit and wearing her inmate number on her chest, as the court allowed filming by the press. 

Kim's trial began at the Seoul Central District Court after she was brought from a detention centre in southwestern Seoul, where she has been held in custody since August 12.

With her face partially covered with a mask and her hair tied back in a ponytail, Kim stepped into the dock and responded to an identity check from the bench.

"I am unemployed," she said. Her birthday, she said, was September 2, 1972, and she did not wish for a jury trial.

Her inmate number, "4398," was displayed on a badge on her chest, and photos and videos were permitted for about 1 minute before the hearing got under way but not after.

Kim is the first spouse of a former president to stand trial, and her husband, ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, is simultaneously standing trial on charges related to his failed bid to impose martial law in December.

She is accused of violating the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation.

The first charge relates to allegations that she conspired with a former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, as well as a close associate, to manipulate the company's stock price and make 810 million won ($581,000) in illegal profits between 2010 and 2012.

The second charge relates to allegations that she and her husband received free opinion polls worth 270 million won from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the presidential election in 2022 in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year, Yonhap news agency reported.

The final charge involves her alleged acceptance of luxury gifts worth 80 million won from a Unification Church official through a shaman in 2022, which allegedly came with requests for favours.

The special counsel team investigating her case has requested the court freeze all the assets pending the trial.

--IANS

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