Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church that had sought business favours.
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SEOUL — A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church that had sought business favours.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team had sought a 15-year prison term for Kim, the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, who stands trial on an insurrection charge related to his martial law bid in 2024.
But the Seoul Central District Court handed down the far shorter prison term for Kim, acquitting her of charges of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and violating the Political Funds Act, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The court also ordered Kim to forfeit 12.8 million won ($9,000). With Wednesday's ruling, Kim and her husband have become the country's first former presidential couple to be imprisoned with criminal convictions.
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After the ruling, the special counsel team said it will appeal, saying it found the verdict difficult to accept.
Kim's lawyers said the prison term for charges of taking money and valuables was relatively high, noting they would consider their next steps, such as whether to appeal.
The court said it found Kim guilty of receiving a Chanel bag and a high-end Graff necklace from a Unification Church official who had sought business favours in July 2022.
It, however, did not recognise another Chanel bag Kim received in April 2022 from the official as a bribe, as no specific requests had been made.
"The defendant misused her position as a means to seek profit," the court said. "(She) failed to reject high-end luxury goods shared in connection with the Unification Church's requests and focused on her own adornment."
Kim had been charged with conspiring with a former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, as well as a close associate, to manipulate the company's stock price and make 810 million won in illegal profits between 2010 and 2012.
She was also indicted for violating the Political Funds Act for allegedly receiving free opinion polls worth 270 million won, together with her husband, from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
The former First Lady was additionally charged with conspiring with a shaman to receive luxury gifts worth 80 million won from a Unification Church official in 2022, along with requests for business favours.
Kim, who has been held in custody since August, had denied all of the charges.
Regarding her alleged participation in the stock price manipulation scheme, the court recognised that Kim may have been aware of the scheme but could not determine that she took part in it as an accomplice.
It also acknowledged that Kim and her husband received free opinion polls from the power broker, but did not recognise them as economically benefiting the couple, as they were not exclusively given to the couple.
Yoon has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges stemming from his martial law bid in 2024. He is also standing trial on more charges, including leading an insurrection through his martial law decree.