“Kim Keon-hee” ex-president’s wife sentenced to 1 year 8 months in bribery case

Today (Jan 28), A Seoul court in South Korea sentenced Kim Keon-hee, ex-president Yoon Seok-Yeol’s wife, to be guilty of receiving the bribe from the Unification church in order to exchange political benefits. She was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison.

Previously, she was impeached with stock manipulation, political interference, and bribery charges. However, the court has decided that she was not involved with the stock manipulation and political interference cases and dismissed these cases.

The judge has declared in the decision that she has used her position as a tool to pursue her own benefits. He also stated that "The higher the position, the more one must exercise caution in their conduct."

An investigation team has found evidence which indicates that Kim Keon-Hee had received gifts as bribes worth around 80 million won or 1,800,000 baht. Those gifts consisted of diamond necklaces and brandname bags from the Unification church as a gateway for political and business privilege.

At first, she was impeached 15 years in prison and 2,000 million won as a penalty or 44 million baht but after the court dismissed her involvement in stock manipulation and political interference charges together with she never facing criminal charges, the court has decided her sentence to be 1 year and 8 months and penalty for 12.85 million won or 280,000 bath.

South Korea's ex-president Yoon Seok-Yeol./ Photo: BBC

This is the first incident in South Korea’s history that both former president and their spouse have been sentenced to prison at the same time, after Yoon Seok-Yeol was recently sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing an attempt to arrest him following his martial law declaration in late 2023.

SOURCE: KBS World

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Source of material: official media /online news