South Korea’s Seoul Central District Court late on 12 August approved an arrest warrant for former first lady Kim Keon Hee and ordered her immediate detention at Seoul Southern Detention Center. The ruling makes Kim, 53, the nation’s first ex-first lady to be jailed and places her alongside her husband, impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been in custody since July while standing trial on insurrection and other charges. Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki told reporters that Kim faces multiple counts under the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act and anti-bribery statutes. Investigators allege she helped rig the share price of BMW importer Deutsch Motors between 2009 and 2012, accepted luxury gifts—including a Van Cleef pendant valued at roughly 60 million won ($43,000) and two Chanel bags worth a combined 20 million won—in exchange for business favours, and exerted undue influence over party nominations in 2022 and 2024 elections. The court said the warrant was warranted because Kim posed “a risk of destroying evidence.” Her lawyers deny wrongdoing. The detention intensifies a widening probe into the former presidential couple. On 14 August, prosecutors questioned Kim but said she mostly exercised her right to remain silent; additional summonses are expected. Investigators have also raided party offices and sought a warrant for a close aide dubbed her “butler.” The simultaneous incarceration of both Yoon and Kim underscores the political upheaval that has followed Yoon’s removal from office in April and could reverberate through South Korea’s conservative opposition as it prepares for party elections.