South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday (26 June) after a court found her guilty of accepting luxury gifts in return for political favours.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Kim, the wife of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, accepted bribes before and during her husband's time in office. Yoon was removed from office in 2025 following his failed attempt to impose martial law.
The court said Kim used her position as first lady to influence appointments and help people secure government and parliamentary jobs.
"She exercised her power as first lady to offer jobs and business favours," the lead judge said.
"She received without any hesitation those bribes, which ordinary people would hardly encounter during their lives."
The gifts included a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace, a Tiffany brooch, Graff earrings, a Dior handbag, a gold turtle, a Vacheron Constantin watch worth 39 million won (US$25,349.86), and a painting valued at 140 million won.
The judge said Kim's actions had seriously damaged public trust in the fairness of government appointments.
According to the court, those who gave her gifts included a construction company owner seeking a government role for his son-in-law, a pastor hoping to build ties with senior officials, the former head of a private university, and the chief executive of a robotic dog retailer who wanted to supply equipment to the presidential security service.
The court also fined Kim 64.8 million won and ordered that the bribes be confiscated if they could be recovered.
Kim denied all the charges. Her lawyer said she would appeal the verdict, accusing the judge of overstating the evidence against her, according to Yonhap News Agency.
She is already serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted in April on separate charges of stock manipulation and accepting bribes linked to South Korea's Unification Church.
Her husband, Yoon, was sentenced to life imprisonment in February after being found guilty of leading an insurrection linked to his brief declaration of martial law in 2024.
For decades, Uzbekistan’s cotton industry was primarily associated with the production and harvesting of ...
Leaders from around the world are gathering in New York for the latest session of the United Nations General Assembly, with conflicts in Ukraine an...
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has it is shutting production at Ukraine's largest steel plant, underscoring the grow...
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan will hold an urgent high-level meeting under a joint defence pact to discuss ways to support the kingdom amid attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. The meeting comes as Tehran seeks to distance itself from the rapid advance of its Houthi allies.
World leaders return to the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday for the fourth day of the high-level General Debate, with speeches and diplomatic meetings continuing throughout the day.
Finland and Sweden deployed fighter aircraft on Thursday after a group of Russian military planes was detected over the Gulf of Finland, the Finnish Air Force reported on Friday (25 September).
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday, 24 September, for talks focused on trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan and the war with Iran.
Fourteen Kazakh military personnel died after being swept out to sea during a naval training exercise in the western Mangistau region, authorities said on Thursday.
Leaders from around the world are gathering in New York for the latest session of the United Nations General Assembly, with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, global security, trade, artificial intelligence, climate change and economic development dominating the agenda.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has it is shutting production at Ukraine's largest steel plant, underscoring the growing economic toll of Russia's airstrikes that on Friday killed seven people in Kyiv including a 14-year-old boy and injured 58.
A woman has died and five people are missing after a residential building collapsed following an explosion in a tourist area of central Athens, a Greek fire brigade official said on Saturday.
U.S. television networks resumed coverage of President Donald Trump’s White House events on Friday, providing the first live pool footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit as a legal battle continues over restrictions on CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is comfortable maintaining its trade standoff with Canada despite new import bans taking effect next week U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment