South Korea’s former first lady sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The wife of South Korea’s ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption Wednesday, as her husband awaits a verdict on high-stakes rebellion charges that could result in the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The presidential couple suffered a spectacular fall from grace after Yoon’s martial law debacle in December 2024 led to his impeachment and eventually his removal from office.

They have been jailed separately for months prior to facing criminal trials, Yoon over his martial law imposition in December 2024 and other allegations and Kim over corruption charges. Investigators say Kim wasn’t involved in Yoon’s martial law enforcement.

On Wednesday, Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim for receiving luxury gifts like a Graff diamond necklace and a Chanel bag from the Unification Church in return for promises of business favors.

“Staying close to a president, a first lady can exert significant influence on him and is a symbolic figure who represents the country together with a president,” the court said in a live broadcast of the verdict. “But the defendant exploited her position to seek personal gains.”

The ruling was still a surprise after independent counsel Min Joong-ki called for a 15-year prison term for Kim on the charges involving bribery, stock price manipulation and political funding law violations. The court acquitted Kim of charges of stock price manipulation and political funding law violations, citing a lack of evidence and other reasons.

Min’s team responded that it cannot accept the ruling and will appeal to a higher court. The governing liberal Democratic Party, which led Yoon’s ouster, slammed the verdict as sending a wrong signal that “abuse of power like Kim Keon Hee’s can be tolerated.”

Kim’s defense team thanked the court for its verdict but said the 20-month prison term for her bribery charges was “relatively high.” Lawyer Choi Ji-woo said Min’s investigation was politically driven and his team will discuss whether to appeal.

Kim has been in jail since August when the Seoul court approved a warrant to arrest her, citing the chance she might destroy evidence.

Days before her arrest, Kim apologized for causing public concern but still hinted that she would deny the allegations against her, portraying herself as “someone insignificant.”

The ruling against Kim was made about three weeks before the court delivers its verdict on a rebellion charge against Yoon for imposing martial law briefly in December 2024.

Cho Eun-suk, another independent counsel, has demanded the death sentence for Yoon.

When Yoon was in office, Kim was embroiled in a slew of scandals that severely hurt Yoon’s approval rating and provided relentless political ammunition to his rivals. The scandals included the three charges the court dealt with Wednesday.

Many observers speculated Yoon opted to place the country under a military rule to protect his wife from possible investigations. But after a six-month probe into Yoon’s decree that wrapped up in December, independent counsel Cho’s team downplayed conjecture that Kim’s troubles drove Yoon to declare martial law.

Yoon plotted for over a year to declare martial law so he could eliminate his political opponents and monopolize power and there was also no evidence of Kim’s involvement, Cho’s team said.