South Korea: Jailed ex-first lady appears for questioning by special counsel

Seoul, Aug 14 (IANS) South Korea's jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee appeared at a special counsel's office on Thursday to undergo questioning for the first time since her arrest earlier this week over corruption charges.

Kim was brought to special counsel Min Joong-ki's office in central Seoul in a prison van after departing Seoul Southern Detention Centre in handcuffs, according to correctional authorities.

She was hidden from public view as the van used the underground parking route.

The wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was placed in custody at the detention center in southwestern Seoul on Wednesday after a court issued a warrant to arrest her on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favours, Yonhap news agency reported.

On Thursday, the special prosecutors reportedly plan to grill Kim about the election meddling case, which centres on allegations the former presidential couple received free opinion polls from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2022 presidential election in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year.

Being taken into custody made her and her husband, former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the first former presidential couple to be detained simultaneously.

At the detention centre, Kim was set to receive the same entry procedures as any other detainee -- a physical examination and taking mug shots in a khaki-colored prison uniform.

She was expected to be held in a solitary cell that's about 6 to 10 square metres in size with amenities, such as a locker, a foldout table, a television and a toilet. She will have to sleep on a mattress on the floor as there is no bed.

--IANS

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