Yoon Suk Yeol's apartment raided over wife's alleged gifts

Prosecutors carried out a search and seizure of the private residence of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee on Thursday, as part of an investigation into alleged corruption via ties between the former presidential couple and a shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, also known as Geon Jin.

Wednesday’s raid by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office is seen as an effort to secure evidence related to Jeon’s alleged violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and his alleged connection to the former presidential couple.

The prosecution previously investigated a high-ranking Unification Church official, surnamed Yoon, who reportedly claimed that he gave a diamond necklace estimated to be worth 60 million won ($41,976) and an expensive handbag of unknown value to Jeon, allegedly as a gift for the former first lady Kim after then-presidential candidate Yoon won the election in 2022.

The prosecution seeks to verify whether and which gifts were actually handed over to Kim.

The prosecutors reportedly suspect that the Unification Church official attempted to lobby the former presidential couple through Jeon in order to gain government-led support for the church's business operations in Cambodia.

Authorities also obtained a text message in which church official Yoon reportedly sent Jeon a bundle of cash amounting to 30 million won under the pretext of a "prayer fee."

Jeon was previously accused of receiving 100 million won from a politician who ran for office during the local elections in 2018. He is believed to have played a role in decision-making and served as a lesser-known leader of Yoon’s campaign team, having been brought in without an official appointment.

The shaman was found in a now-deleted video recorded in January 2022, where he introduced then-presidential candidate Yoon to campaign staff with friendly physical and verbal gestures at the office of the networking subcommittee.

Jeon was reportedly accused of flaunting his personal connections with the former presidential couple to influence business interests as well.

Wednesday’s raid was the first time the former president and his wife have been subjected to a search and seizure operation.

The joint probe team comprising the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation had attempted to carry out six search and seizure operations of the official presidential office and presidential residence compound in regards to the criminal charges Yoon faces alleging he led an insurrection by declaring martial law Dec. 3. However, each of these attempts were blocked by the Presidential Security Service, which refused to comply, citing military secrets and official confidentiality as reasons for its refusal.

The former president’s apartment in the Acrovista complex in Seocho-gu is not a location involving classified military secrets or official duties under the Criminal Procedure Act.