South Korea: Wife of ousted ex-President Yoon arrested, party offices raided

South Korean prosecutors raided the offices of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's party on Wednesday in search of evidence in an election manipulation case in which his wife, Kim Keon Hee, who was arrested the day before, is being prosecuted.

Kim Keon Hee was in court on Wednesday for the reading of her arrest warrant. Photo by Sipa/Jung Yeon-je

Kim Keon Hee, the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol , was arrested Tuesday night on a series of charges, including stock market manipulation and bribery. Her arrest came hours after the Seoul Special Prosecutor's Office reviewed a request for an arrest warrant against the 52-year-old former first lady.

The court granted it, citing the risk of evidence tampering, after the submission of an 848-page report describing her alleged "illegal actions." The People's Power Party (PPP) office was raided to collect evidence of the former first lady's alleged interference in the parliamentary elections.

Husband and wife behind bars

Yoon Suk Yeol left the party in May after his ouster from office, but he supported the party's candidate in the snap presidential election won by Lee Jae Myung of the Democratic Party . Opposition leader Song Eon-seog denounced the raid as "nothing short of gangster behavior." "I cannot contain my outrage at the ruthless political persecution and retaliation against the opposition carried out by the Lee Jae Myung administration," Song Eon-seog said at a press conference.

Both the former president and his wife are now behind bars. The charges against the former first lady relate to violations of capital markets and financial investment laws, as well as laws on the financing of political life. The conservative former president, who was deposed in April and replaced two months later as head of state, remains in detention for his declaration of martial law in December, which was quickly rebuffed.