Solitary cell with mattress on the floor for South Korea's once powerful ex-first lady

[ad_1] (Corrects paragraph 2 to specify the detention facility opened in 2011, not 11 years in the past)

By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's former first girl Kim Keon Hee will spend her first day in jail on Wednesday in a cell very like the one her husband and ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol occupies as prosecutors pursue the as soon as high-flying couple in a widening felony probe.

Kim was formally booked into the Seoul Nambu Detention Heart on the western fringe of the capital, a relatively new correctional facility that opened in 2011 and one of many few run by a feminine warden.

She might be handled in the identical means as different inmates however will obtain minor changes in her each day routine given her standing as a high-profile determine, a supply accustomed to the matter instructed Reuters.

Kim was imprisoned after a court docket authorised a warrant for her arrest late on Tuesday on the grounds that she would possibly destroy proof amid an ongoing investigation into allegations of bribery, inventory fraud and affect peddling.

Kim's attorneys have denied the accusations towards her and dismissed as groundless hypothesis information experiences about a few of the presents she allegedly acquired in return for favours.

Kim apologised for inflicting concern within the nation and known as herself "a no person" as she appeared for questioning final week.

Her solitary cell has a small desk that can be utilized as a desk and for consuming meals and a flooring mattress to sleep on, stated the supply, who requested to not be recognized as a result of he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Kim can have separate entry to a standard bathe room and be allowed to train open air for an hour daily besides on Sundays, the time staggered to keep away from overlap with different inmates, the supply stated.

Jail might be a wholly new expertise for Kim, in contrast to for her husband who has already spent about 100 days in jail.

Yoon is on trial over his botched try to impose martial regulation, on costs of rebel, an accusation he denies. He has been imprisoned on the Seoul Detention Heart, which regardless of its title is exterior the capital to the south.

'POLITICAL MIND'

The previous first couple had lived in a spacious condo in an upscale district of Seoul earlier than Yoon's election as president in Might 2022 and had returned there after his ouster for the martial regulation decree that resulted in a political catastrophe for him, his celebration and now for his spouse.

Kim is a rich businesswoman in her personal proper and a lot of the couple's property together with the condo belong to her, in keeping with a authorities database.

Now, Kim will obtain the identical meals as the common inmate, normally conventional Korean fare ready at a value of about 1,500 gained ($1.08) per meal. On Wednesday, toast with strawberry jam, sausages and salad had been on the menu for breakfast.

A effective artwork professional who based and ran a profitable curation company, Kim has been embroiled in quite a lot of scandals earlier than and after her husband's election in 2022, with the controversies at instances overshadowing Yoon's turbulent presidency.

Her trend decisions and coverage lobbying in areas like selling a ban on consuming canine meat made her controversial in a rustic the place a primary girl has sometimes stored a low profile.

Han Dong-soo, a former choose and a prosecutor who labored with Yoon, stated Kim had "a politically strategic thoughts" and was a driving pressure behind her husband's ascent to high workplace.

After she married Yoon when he was 52, Kim grew to become the primary affect of virtually all of his considering and choices, Han stated. Kim was 39 once they wed.