Former President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee./Courtesy of News1

The prosecution has secured a voice recording file containing evidence that Kim Keon-hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was aware of the stock manipulation involving Deutsch Motors, according to reports on the 17th.

According to the legal community, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, which began a reinvestigation into the stock manipulation allegations against Kim Keon-hee in April, is reported to have recently secured hundreds of such recording files during a raid on Mirae Asset Securities. The recordings are said to contain conversations Kim had with the employee in charge of her Mirae Asset Securities account over approximately three years.

It is said that in the recording files secured by the prosecution, Kim indicated in her own voice that she had 'entrusted an account to Black Pearl Investment and agreed to provide a 40% return.' The prosecution is analyzing the recordings, which are believed to date from October 2010 to December 2012, during the estimated second phase of stock manipulation by Deutsch Motors, where Kim is reported to have stated that 'they are managing the stock price' or to have discussed under the assumption that someone is manipulating the stock price. There are also claims that Kim expressed concerns about the profit sharing being excessive. Black Pearl Investment is suspected of having played a control tower role during the second operation phase. The company was led by Lee Jong-ho, who was definitively convicted by the Supreme Court for involvement in stock price manipulation.

The prosecution also secured a recording file of Kim discussing specific documents with the employee, which is said to correspond with the withdrawal records and balances from the stock accounts found on the so-called 'Kim Keon-hee X-File' discovered on a computer at the Black Pearl Investment office.

Kim Keon-hee was hospitalized the previous day at Seoul Asan Medical Center in Songpa District, Seoul. The prosecution's reinvestigation team is reported to have sent a summons to Kim's side, requesting her to appear at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office for questioning by next week at the latest. The dedicated investigation team for the Myung Tae-kyun allegations at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is also demanding Kim's appearance.

Previously, the investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office had dismissed charges against Kim, stating that there was insufficient evidence to support the conclusion that she was aware of the price manipulation.