South Korea court sentences ex-first lady Kim to jail term for bribery

SEOUL – A South Korean court on Jan 28 sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in jail after finding her guilty of accepting

Chanel bags and a diamond pendant

from Unification Church officials

in return for political favours.

The wife of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was

ousted from office in 2025

, was cleared on other charges of stock price manipulation and violating the Political Funds Act.

Prosecutors will appeal against the two not-guilty verdicts, media reports said.

The ruling comes amid a series of trials following investigations into Yoon’s

brief imposition of martial law in 2024

and related scandals involving the once-powerful couple.

Kim had denied all the charges and her lawyer said the team would review the ruling and decide whether to appeal against the bribery conviction.

The lead judge of the three-justice bench said the position of first lady does not come with any formal power allowing involvement in state affairs, but is a symbolic role representing the country.

“A person who was in such a position might not always be a role model, but the person must not be a bad example to the public,” Justice Woo In-sung said in the ruling.

The court ordered Kim to pay a 12.8 million won (S$11,300) fine and ordered the confiscation of the diamond necklace.

Kim

has been detained

since August while under investigation.

Prosecutors had demanded 15 years in jail and fines of 2.9 billion won if she was found guilty on all charges.

Kim, clad in a dark suit and wearing a face mask, was escorted by guards into the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court and sat quietly while the verdict was delivered.

A statement from Kim’s lawyers said she “humbly accepts the court’s stern criticism” and is “sorry for causing public concern”.

Supporters of Yoon and Kim, who braved freezing temperatures outside the court compound, cheered after the not-guilty verdicts on two of the charges were delivered.

The Unification Church said the gifts were delivered to her without expecting anything.

Its leader Han Hak-ja, who is also on trial, has denied that she directed it to bribe Kim.

Shaman, political broker

Kim had drawn intense public scrutiny even before her husband was

elected president in 2022

, over questions about her academic records and lingering suspicion that she had been long involved in manipulating stock prices.

Her alleged association with a political broker and a person known as a shaman also drew public criticism that the two might have been unduly influencing the former first couple.

Yoon, who was ousted from power in April 2025,

faces eight trials

on charges including insurrection, after his failed bid to impose martial law in December 2024. He has appealed against

a five-year jail term handed to him in January

for obstructing attempts to arrest him after his martial law decree.

At a separate trial in January, prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Yoon on the charge of masterminding an insurrection.

The court will rule on the case on Feb 19.

Yoon has argued that it was within his powers as president to declare martial law and that the action was aimed at sounding the alarm over the obstruction of government by opposition parties. REUTERS