Seoul, January 28: A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon-hee to 20 months in prison for accepting expensive gifts from the Unification Church in exchange for business advantages. The Seoul Central District Court found Kim guilty of misusing her position for personal gain.
The special prosecution team, led by Min Jung-ki, had sought a 15-year prison term for Kim. She is the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is currently facing charges related to an attempted imposition of martial law in 2024.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the court handed down a relatively light sentence and acquitted Kim of charges involving stock price manipulation and violations of the Political Funds Act. The court also ordered the seizure of 12.8 million won (approximately $9,000).
With this verdict, Kim and her husband Yoon have become the first former presidential couple in South Korea to receive prison sentences on criminal charges.
Following the decision, the special prosecution team announced plans to appeal, expressing difficulty in accepting the ruling. Meanwhile, Kim’s legal team argued that the prison sentence was excessive for the charges concerning accepting money and luxury items and are considering whether to file an appeal.
The court found that in July 2022, Kim received a snail bag and a high-end necklace from an official of the Unification Church. However, it did not consider another snail bag given in April 2022 as a bribe, since there was no specific request associated with it.
The court stated, “The accused abused her position for personal benefit. She failed to refuse the luxury items shared as part of the Unification Church’s appeal and instead focused on her own fashion.”
Kim was also accused of conspiring with a former head of a BMW dealership, Deutsche Motors, and a close associate to manipulate the company’s stock price, earning illegal profits of 810 million won between 2010 and 2012. She has denied all allegations and has been in custody since August last year.
Regarding the stock price manipulation scheme, the court acknowledged that Kim might have been aware of the plot but could not conclusively determine her role as a partner in the conspiracy.
The court also accepted that Kim and her husband received free opinion polls from a power broker but did not consider these as providing financial benefit to the couple, since the polls were not exclusively given to them.
Former President Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for charges linked to the 2024 martial law attempt. Investigations into other allegations against him are ongoing.
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