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South Korean investigators have intensified probes into the aftermath of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law declaration in December 2024 and related corruption allegations. A special counsel team raided the Supreme Prosecutors Office in southern Seoul on Thursday, April 23, over former Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung's alleged involvement in the failed martial law bid. Separately, a second comprehensive special counsel team carried out searches at the same office and the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday, May 6, over an alleged mishandling of the prosecution's investigation into former first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury handbag.
Coverage Comparison
The Yonhap News Agency, in its English-language reporting, detailed both investigations. The first article, dated April 23, focused on the raid targeting Shim and his suspected role in the martial law attempt. A second, updated version of the same report added background on Yoon's detention history. A separate article dated May 6 covered the second raid, which involved the Supreme Prosecutors Office and the Ministry of Justice, and provided broader context on the special counsel's mandate.
Key Claims
Raid over Shim's alleged martial law role
According to Yonhap, the special counsel team tasked with investigating uncovered allegations surrounding Yoon sent investigators to the Supreme Prosecutors Office to carry out a search and seizure. The raid was tied to suspicions that Shim played a key role in the martial law attempt, which a district court has ruled an insurrection. Specifically, Shim is suspected of reviewing the possible dispatch of public prosecutors to a joint martial law investigation headquarters on December 3, 2024, the day Yoon declared martial law. The report also mentioned that Shim allegedly held three phone calls with then Justice Minister Park Sung-jae at the time, raising suspicions that Park may have instructed him to send prosecutors to the martial law organ.
The special counsel team is also investigating Shim over his decision not to appeal a court decision in March 2025 that led to Yoon's release from custody. Prosecutors were said to have sought to appeal that decision, but Shim reportedly blocked the move.
Yoon's detention and sentencing
Yonhap's updated report noted that Yoon was placed behind bars again in July when a court issued a warrant for his arrest on multiple charges related to his martial law bid, including obstructing investigators from detaining him. In February, a district court sentenced him to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his martial law declaration. Yoon, currently in custody, has appealed the lower court ruling and is undergoing additional criminal trials related to his martial law bid, his wife's alleged corruption, and the 2023 death of a Marine.
Second raid over Kim Keon Hee's handbag case
The second special counsel team, led by Kwon Chang-young, raided the Supreme Prosecutors Office and the Ministry of Justice's prosecution service division on May 6. This raid was over the alleged mishandling of the prosecution investigation into former first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor. According to Yonhap, Kwon's team has been investigating allegations that the prosecution leadership forced prosecutors to acquit Kim in 2024 of charges related to her acceptance of a Dior bag from pastor Choi Jae-young.
The report detailed that Voice of Seoul, an internet news outlet, filed a complaint against Kim and her husband, then President Yoon, on suspicions of bribery in December 2023, one month after releasing a hidden camera video showing Choi handing over the luxury bag to Kim in 2022. The prosecution dropped charges against Kim in October 2024, saying the bag appeared unrelated to Yoon's duties and seemed to have been given without any expectation of return.
Kwon's team was launched in February to investigate 17 allegations that three previous special counsel teams could not resolve. One of those previous teams reportedly found that Kim sent a message to then Justice Minister Park Sung-jae in May 2024, asking about the formation of a dedicated investigation team about her case and the status of the investigation.
Perspectives
This article is based solely on reporting from Yonhap News Agency. No named parties other than the investigators and public officials mentioned in the reports have provided statements, and no distinct viewpoints are included in the provided material.