South Korea’s ex-first lady jailed 20 months for taking bribes

SEOUL (AFP) — A South Korean judge handed the country’s former First Lady Kim Keon Hee 20 months in jail for accepting lavish gifts from a cult-like church on Wednesday, but acquitted her for alleged stock manipulation and other charges.

Controversy has long surrounded 53-year-old Kim and accusations of graft, influence peddling and even academic fraud dominated her husband Yoon Suk Yeol’s time in office.

Both are now in custody — Yoon for actions taken during his disastrous declaration of martial law in December 2024 and its chaotic aftermath and Kim for corruption.

On Wednesday, Judge Woo In-sung of the Seoul Central District Court found her guilty of corruption and sentenced her to 20 months in prison.

She was found to have accepted lavish bribes from the cult-like Unification Church — including a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace.

She was, however, found not guilty of stock manipulation and violations of South Korea’s campaign financing laws.

Prosecutors had asked for 15 years.

Judge Woo said Kim’s close proximity to the president had given her “significant influence” that she had taken advantage of.

“One’s position must never become a means of pursuing private gain,” he said.

Kim, he added had “abused her position as a means of pursuing personal gain.”

The former first lady sat in the court as the sentence was read out, wearing a black suit, a white face mask and glasses.

Prosecutors in her final hearing in December said Kim had “stood above the law” and colluded with the Unification Church to undermine “the constitutionally mandated separation of religion and state.”

Prosecutor Min Joong-ki also said South Korea’s institutions were “severely undermined by abuses of power” committed by Kim.

The former first lady has denied all the charges, claiming the allegations were “deeply unjust” in her final testimony last month.

But she has also apologized for “causing trouble despite being a person of no importance.”

“When I consider my role and the responsibilities entrusted to me, it seems clear that I have made many mistakes,” she said in December.