A special counsel team demanded a 15-year prison term for former first lady Kim Keon-hee on corruption and bribery charges during the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on December 3, 2025. The wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol faces accusations of violating the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act, and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 28, 2026.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team accused Kim Keon-hee of conspiring with a former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, and a close associate to manipulate the company's stock price and gain 810 million won (US$552,670) in illegal profits between 2010 and 2012. For this charge, the team requested 11 years in prison, a fine of 2 billion won, and forfeiture of about 811 million won.
Kim is also accused of receiving luxury gifts worth 80 million won from a Unification Church official in 2022, along with requests for business favors, through a shaman. A special counsel team member stated during the hearing, "All of the accomplices in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation crime have since stood trial, but only the defendant was an exception."
On the Unification Church-related crimes, the team said, "She colluded with a religious group and destroyed the constitutional principle of separation of politics and religion, while bringing down the democratic foundation of election fairness and the national governance system of representative democracy."
Additionally, Kim is suspected of receiving free opinion polls worth 270 million won, along with her husband, from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election in exchange for securing the nomination of former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun for a parliamentary by-election later that year. For this, the team demanded a four-year prison term and forfeiture of 137 million won.
The special counsel explained that the 15-year recommendation was based on violations of constitutional values, her outright denial of the crimes, and their severe nature. In her final statement, Kim apologized to the people for causing "great concern" but noted there was room for dispute in the charges. "I feel I have been treated unfairly in many ways, but compared with my role and my qualifications, I feel I have done a lot of wrong," she said.
Kim has been in custody since August 12, 2025. Her husband is also jailed and on trial for insurrection charges over his failed martial law attempt last December.
