South Korea: Special counsel raids shaman linked to ex-first lady Kim
The team sent prosecutors and investigators to the office of shaman Jeon Seong-bae, also known as Geon Jin, in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, in the morning to secure documents and computer files related to his suspected delivery of gifts to Kim.
Jeon is suspected of receiving a diamond necklace and an expensive bag from a high-ranking Unification Church official between April and August of 2022, soon after Yoon Suk Yeol's election as president in March of the same year, and delivering the gifts to Kim, Yonhap news agency reported.
The church official reportedly demanded some business favors from the Yoon government in return for the alleged gifts. Jeon has said he received the gifts but lost them all.
The special counsel team has been investigating 16 criminal allegations against the former first lady, including her alleged role in stock price manipulation schemes and her alleged meddling in election nominations.
Assistant Special Prosecutor Moon Hong-ju told reporters the team has filed for a warrant to detain Kim Ye-seong, a close acquaintance of the former first lady who it believes fled to Vietnam in April.
"We take it that neither Kim nor his wife has any intention to return home voluntarily and appear (for questioning) as they have not reached out to the special counsel," Moon said.
In the event a warrant is issued, Moon said the team will take steps to invalidate his passport.
Kim Ye-seong, who is often dubbed the butler of the former first lady's family, is suspected of receiving 18 billion won ($13.1 million) in dubious investments from several companies through his rental car company IMS in 2023.
--IANS
int/bpd/rs
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
17 hours ago
- First Post
North Korea. Russia deepen alliance; Apples, ammunition & manpower cross the border
While Russia may gain labour and weapons, the benefits to North Korea are not purely economic, as access to Russian funding and technology would likely accelerate the North's weapons programme read more North Korean apples have begun to appear on supermarket shelves in Russia as growing commercial and military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang take on new significance. One year after Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership at a ceremony in Pyongyang, the two authoritarian states are rapidly expanding co-operation that goes well beyond the battlefield in Ukraine. Trade and business links have proliferated over the past twelve months. North Korean fishing vessels have surged into waters off Russia's far east coast, and companies from the reclusive regime are registering trademarks for products as varied as jam, beer, accordions and sausages. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD North Korea's presence is growing in the Russian marketplace, and a raft of new infrastructure projects and workforce deployments suggests the partnership is being built to endure. A $100mn bridge is under construction over the Tumen river to improve cross-border road access. A dormant 10,000km rail link between Moscow and Pyongyang may also be revived. Russian theatre groups have performed in the North Korean capital, while athletes and university officials have travelled between the two countries in growing numbers. Last week, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met Kim on his yacht near the beach resort of Wonsan. Kim pledged 'unconditionally support' for Russia's aims in Ukraine. Lavrov responded by saying Russia 'respects and understands' North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme. Financial Times quoted Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, as saying that the two sides have become more open about their collaboration. 'Having previously downplayed the extent of their military co-operation, the two countries now want the world to know that their relationship is being built to last.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Soldiers for roubles As well as economic integration, the most significant support from Pyongyang to Moscow has come in the form of weapons and soldiers. South Korean intelligence reported that since October, North Korea has sent 12 million artillery shells to Russia and deployed an estimated 13,000 troops to the Kursk region. The deployments are thought to have suffered heavy losses, but Russian officials have publicly praised the contribution. Sergei Shoigu, head of Russia's Security Council, lauded the North Koreans for defending Russia 'as if it was their own motherland'. Shoigu has since announced that a further 6,000 North Koreans will be sent to Russia, including 5,000 military construction workers. Lankov believes this could be a 'trial run' to assess North Korea's potential to meet Russia's labour needs and allow more domestic troops to be redirected to the war in Ukraine. Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said the cash and in-kind payments from Moscow could significantly revive North Korea's stagnating mining and agricultural sectors. 'Even modest investments in rural infrastructure could bring real benefits for swaths of the North Korean population,' he said. But Ward added a note of caution. 'While some of it will be spent on improving conditions for some of its own people, in reality a lot of it is likely to be wasted on prestige projects like skyscrapers in Pyongyang and other privileges for the elite.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Growing mutual leverage While Russia may gain labour and weapons, the benefits to North Korea are not purely economic. Victor Cha, Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that access to Russian funding and technology would likely accelerate the North's weapons programme. Ward noted that even after the war in Ukraine ends, the alliance would give both countries 'greater capacity to resist western diplomatic pressure'. Trump-era diplomacy may be ill-suited to this new alignment. In March, Donald Trump signalled a desire to re-engage with Kim, calling North Korea a 'big nuclear nation' and the North Korean leader a 'very smart guy'. But Cha believes the calculus has changed. 'Trump should not imagine that his bonhomie will somehow sour Kim on a lucrative relationship with Russia, or convince the North Korean leader to cede the tremendous leverage he now enjoys."
The Hindu
17 hours ago
- The Hindu
South Korean prosecutors seek drone chief arrest over operation in North Korea
South Korean prosecutors on Sunday (July 20, 2025) said they have requested court approval to detain the head of the military drone unit as part of a probe into former President Yoon Suk Yeol and drone operations in North Korea. The special counsel team last week summoned the chief of the Drone Operations Command, Kim Yong-dae, over allegations that Yoon ordered a covert drone operation into the North last year to inflame tension between the neighbours to justify his martial law decree. The impeached Yoon has denied the allegations. On Friday (July 18), Mr. Kim told reporters that the incident was part of a "clandestine military operation" in response to the trash balloons from the North and not to provoke the neighbour. In October, North Korea said the South had sent drones to scatter anti-North Korea leaflets over Pyongyang, and published photos of the remains of a crashed South Korean military drone. South Korea at the time declined to disclose whether it had sent the drones. Mr. Kim was arrested on Friday without a court warrant, local media reported. Prosecutors and police are permitted to conduct an "emergency arrest" if they have a strong belief that someone is guilty of a serious crime and that there is a risk that the individual might flee or destroy evidence. Prosecutors stepped up investigations into the drone operation after indicting the jailed ex-President Yoon on additional charges for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
South Korea's Yoon Indicted On Additional Criminal Charges Over Martial Law
South Korea's ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol was indicted Saturday on additional criminal charges related to his ill-fated imposition of martial law, about three months after he was formally thrown out of office. Yoon's additional indictments mean he will remain in jail for up to six months as he faces a trial at the Seoul Central District Court on his Dec. 3 martial law declaration that plunged South Korea into huge political turmoil. Yoon was sent back to prison last week after the Seoul court approved his arrest warrant requested by a team of investigators headed by independent counsel Cho Eun-suk. Cho's team indicted Yoon on abuse of power that obstructed the rights of some of his Cabinet members. The charge was imposed because Yoon summoned only select Cabinet members to approve his emergency martial law when South Korean law requires approval of all Cabinet members for such a measure, Park Ji-young, a senior investigator at Cho's team, told a briefing. Park said Yoon was also charged with fabricating an official document in an attempt to satisfy a formal requirement for a martial law declaration before he eventually destroyed it. State prosecutors have already indicted Yoon on other criminal charges including masterminding a rebellion, a grave charge whose conviction carries only two sentences - capital punishment or life imprisonment. After declaring martial law, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the opposition-controlled National Assembly, but enough lawmakers managed to enter an assembly chamber and voted down his decree, forcing his Cabinet to lift it. Yoon was later impeached by the assembly, with some of his ruling party lawmakers also voting to suspend his presidential powers. Yoon has argued his decree was a desperate attempt to draw public support of his fight against the "wickedness" of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which had obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed the government's budget bill. He earlier called the National Assembly "a den of criminals" and "anti-state forces." In January, Yoon was arrested by state prosecutors. But in March, he was released from prison after a judge at the Seoul district court canceled his arrest to allow him to stand trial without being held in custody. In April, the Constitutional Court formally dismissed Yoon as president, prompting a snap election to choose his successor. After winning that election, new President Lee Jae Myung, a former Democratic Party leader, approved legislation to launch independent investigations to uncover fuller details of Yoon's martial law stunt and delve into other criminal allegations involving his wife and administration. Lee named Cho an independent counsel to lead an investigation on Yoon's martial law decree. In May, state prosecutors indicted Yoon on charges of abusing power and forcing soldiers and police officers to try to seal the assembly and election offices, acts that are not part of their duties.
