South Korea's former first lady jailed for accepting bribes from controversial church

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - SEOUL — A South Korean court sentenced the wife of ousted president Yoon Suk Yeolon Wednesday to 20 months in jail after finding her guilty of accepting bribes from the controversial Unification Church in return for political favors.
However, the court cleared 52-year-old Kim Keon Hee on charges of stock price manipulation and receiving free opinion polls from a political broker before the 2022 presidential election, which her husband Yoon Suk Yeol won.
Yoon has already been sentenced to five years' in jail for abusing power and obstructing justice in relation to his failed martial law bid in 2024.
Prosecutors will appeal against the two not-guilty verdicts, media reports said.
The ruling, which can also be appealed by the former first lady, 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.
On Wednesday, Judge Woo In-sung at the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Kim had "misused her position as a means of pursuing personal gain".
The position of first lady does not come with any formal power allowing involvement in state affairs, but she is a symbolic figure representing the country, said Woo, the lead judge of a three-justice bench.
"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," he said in the ruling.
"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.
A special counsel team appointed to the case said Kim received 80m ($56,000; £40,600) won of gifts, which include a Graff diamond necklace and several Chanel handbags, from the Unification Chruch between April and July 2022, in exchange for business and political favors.
The court ordered her to pay a 12.8 million won ($8,990) fine and ordered the confiscation of the diamond necklace. Kim has been held in detention since August while she was being investigated.
Prosecutors had demanded 15 years in jail and fines of 2.9 billion won over all the accusations she faced.
Kim had denied all the charges. Her lawyer said the team would review the ruling and decide whether to appeal the bribery conviction.
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.

Advertisements 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.
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.
In a statement after the verdict, Kim said: "I humbly accept the court's sterm admonition and will not take its weight lightly".
"Once again, I sincerely apologise to everyone for the concern I have caused," she added. Kim had previously denied all charges. — Agencies

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The team had sought a 15-year jail term and a fine of 2 billion won for all three charges heard on Wednesday – for which Kim was convicted of one – but the judge noted that Kim was not the one who demanded or solicited the bribes, and that she had "no significant criminal record".

She was however ordered to pay back 12.85 million won in cash and the court also ordered the confiscation of the diamond necklace.

Kim has also been charged over her alleged involvement in a scheme to recruit Unification Church followers to the conservative People Power Party that her husband was part of, and accepting gifts in exchange for government job appointments. The court has yet to hear those cases.

The former first lady had denied all charges, saying they were "deeply unjust", although she did admit to receiving Chanel bags, which she said she later returned without using.

She made a public apology when she appeared for questioning last August. "I am truly sorry that a nobody like me has caused concern to the people," she said.

Investigations into Kim's dealings with the Unification Church had also led to the arrest of church leader Han Hak-ja.

Apart from the criminal allegations, Kim has also been the subject of other controversies. Last year, Sookmyung Women's University annulled an art education degree she graduated with in 1999, after an ethics panel found she had plagiarised her master's thesis. — Agencies