Seoul High Court is set to rule Tuesday at 3 p.m. on corruption charges against former first lady Kim Keon Hee, following a lower court sentence of one year and eight months in prison. Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team seeks a 15-year term for her. The hearing will be broadcast live.
The Seoul High Court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the appeal of former first lady Kim Keon Hee at 3 p.m. on April 28. Kim faces charges of accepting luxury goods from a Unification Church official, including two Chanel bags and a Graff diamond necklace, as well as involvement in a stock manipulation scheme. The lower court found her partially guilty on the luxury goods charges, sentencing her to one year and eight months in prison, confiscating the necklace and ordering forfeiture of 12.8 million won. It acquitted her on the stock manipulation and opinion poll charges.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team is seeking a 15-year prison term, citing violations of the Capital Markets Act, Political Funds Act, and a law on bribes for mediation. The team accuses Kim of aiding and abetting the manipulation of Deutsch Motors stock -- a BMW dealer in South Korea -- to gain 810 million won ($549,000) in illegal profits from 2010-2012. They also allege she received free opinion poll results from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of her husband's 2022 presidential election.
Following the lower court's acquittals, the special counsel amended the indictment to charge her as an "aider and abettor" in addition to "accomplice" in the stock scheme. On April 27, the same court sentenced former Unification Church global headquarters head Yun Young-ho to 18 months in prison for providing the gifts to Kim and related offenses.
The hearing marks the first court reunion in nine months for Kim and her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
