South Korea’s former first lady jailed for corruption
The wife of South Korea’s ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption on Wednesday, as her husband awaits a verdict on a high-stakes rebellion charge that could result in the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The presidential couple, who have been jailed separately for months, suffered a spectacular fall from grace after Yoon’s martial law debacle in December 2024 led to his impeachment and eventually his removal from office. Yoon was handed a five-year prison term this month for defying authorities’ attempts to detain him and other charges related to the martial law decree.
Investigators say Kim was not involved in Yoon’s martial law enforcement. Kim’s opponentssay her sentence is too lenient On Wednesday, Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim for receiving luxury gifts like a Graff diamond necklace and a Chanel bag from the Unification Church in return for promises of political favours. “Being closest to a president, a first lady can exert significant influence on him and is a symbolic figure who represents the country together with the president,” the court said in a televised verdict. “But the defendant exploited her position to seek personal gains.”
Kim said via her lawyers that she would “humbly accept” the court’s view and apologise again to everyone for causing concerns.” The 20-month sentence was a surprise after independent counsel Min Joong-ki called for a 15-year prison term for Kim on three charges, including stock price manipulation, political funding law violations and accepting bribes. The court acquitted Kim of two other charges, citing a lack of evidence and other reasons.
Min’s team responded that it cannot accept the ruling and will appeal to a higher court. The governing liberal Democratic Party, which led Yoon’s ouster, slammed the verdict as sending a wrong signal that “abuse of power like Ki can be tolerated.” Kim’s lawyer Choi Ji-woo said Min’s investigation was politically driven. He said Kim’s defence team thanked the court for its verdict but said the 20-month prison term was “relatively high.” He said his team will discuss whether to appeal.
Kim’s scandals were political burdens for Yoon Kim has been in jail since August, when the Seoul court approved a warrant to arrest her, citing the chance she might destroy evidence. When Yoon was in office, Kim was embroiled in a slew of scandals that severely hurt the conservative leader’s approval rating and provided relentless political ammunition to his rivals.
The scandals included the three charges the court dealt with on Wednesday. Many observers speculated that Yoon opted to place the country under military rule to protect his wife from possible investigations. But after a six-month probe into Yoon’s decree, investigators led by another independent counsel, Cho Eun-suk, in December downplayed conjecture that Kim’s troubles drove Yoon to declare martial law. South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee, wife of former president Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at a court to attend a hearing in Seoul.
