Seoul: South Korea’s former First Lady Kim Keon Hee was sentenced to 20 months in prison by the Seoul Central District Court for bribery, marking a dramatic fall from grace amid her husband Yoon Suk Yeol’s own legal woes, report agencies.
The three-judge panel convicted her of accepting luxury gifts, including a Graff diamond necklace and Chanel handbag, from the controversial Unification Church in exchange for political favors and business assistance.
Reports also say the court acquitted Kim of separate charges involving stock price manipulation and violations of political funding laws, citing insufficient evidence, despite prosecutors seeking a 15-year term across all counts. “The defendant exploited her position to seek personal gains,” the presiding judge stated during the live-broadcast verdict, emphasizing a first lady’s symbolic influence. Kim, appearing in a dark suit and mask, had denied wrongdoing but expressed regret for public disturbances in prior testimony.
Her legal team called the bribery sentence “relatively high” yet thanked the court, signaling a potential appeal after review. The Unification Church, led by Han Hak-ja (also on trial), claimed gifts carried no quid pro quo. Independent counsel Min Joong-ki decried the outcome as too lenient and vowed an appeal.
The ruling precedes Yoon’s own verdict on rebellion charges from his short-lived 2024 martial law declaration, where prosecutors demand the death penalty. Yoon, once a corruption-busting prosecutor who jailed ex-President Park Geun-hye, now faces a five-year term in related cases. The Democratic Party slammed the sentence as tolerating power abuse.
Kim has been detained since August over evidence tampering fears.
