South Korea jails ex-president’s wife in historic double conviction

The wife of South Korea’s former president has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for accepting bribes from the controversial Unification Church, marking a historic moment in the country’s political and judicial history.

According to foreign media, the court also cleared 52-year-old Kim Keon Hee of accusations related to stock price manipulation and of receiving free opinion polls from a political broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election, which her husband, Yoon Suk Yeol, ultimately won.

Yoon himself had already been sentenced to five years in prison for abuse of power and obstruction of justice linked to his failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024.

The rulings make this the first instance in South Korea where both members of a former presidential couple have been convicted simultaneously.

On Wednesday, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court stated that Kim had “misused her position as a means of pursuing personal gain.”

“The higher [one's] position, the more consciously one must guard against such conduct... The defendant failed to reject solicitations and was preoccupied with self-adornment,” the judge said.

According to a special counsel team assigned to the case, Kim accepted gifts worth 80 million won from the Unification Church between April and July 2022. These included a Graff diamond necklace and several Chanel handbags, which prosecutors said were provided in exchange for political and business favours.

The prosecution had sought a 15-year prison sentence along with a fine of 2 billion won for all three charges considered in court. However, the judge noted that Kim had not personally demanded or solicited the bribes and that she had “no significant criminal record.”

Despite this, the court ordered her to repay 12.85 million won (about $9,000 or £6,500) in cash and ruled that the diamond necklace be confiscated.

Kim is also facing additional charges related to her alleged role in a scheme to recruit followers of the Unification Church into the conservative People Power Party, to which her husband belonged, as well as for reportedly accepting gifts in exchange for government job appointments. Those cases have not yet been heard by the court.

By Tamilla Hasanova