South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee, wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review her arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on August 12, 2025. Photo: VCG

South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon-hee has been arrested on charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme, election meddling and bribery, making her and her husband, former President Yoon Suk-yeol, the first former presidential couple to be detained simultaneously, Yonhap reported on Wednesday.

Before her arrest, a South Korean court issued a warrant to detain Kim, who has been kept in custody on insurrection and other charges, a special counsel team said Tuesday night, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant, requested by independent counsel Min Joong-ki, on charges of violating the capital market act, the political funds act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation, saying that the move aimed to prevent Kim from destroying evidence, Xinhua reported. 

Kim was jailed in the Seoul Southern Detention Center in Seoul, where she had been awaiting the court's decision after attending the court hearing on her detention.

At the detention center, 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, according to The Korea Times.

She was expected to be held in a solitary cell that's about six to 10 square meters 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, The Korea Times reported.

Yoon has been held at a separate detention center since July 10 on insurrection charges over his short-lived martial law imposition last December.

Kim was suspected of participating in a stock price manipulation, interfering with the nomination of candidates in the 2022 parliamentary by-elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church in exchange for business favors, Xinhua reported.  

Kim was suspected of political interference, a controversy that has drawn widespread public attention in South Korea. The case now appears to be reaching a conclusion, Lü Chao, president and associate professor at the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University, told the Global Times.

According to Lü, Kim's arrest also represents part of South Korea's broader political struggle.