Court Acquits Kim Keonhee of 'Stock Manipulation'... Sentences Her to 1 Year 8 Months Only for 'Chanel Bag Bribery'

Kim Also Sentenced to Prison After Former President Yoon
Acquitted of Stock Manipulation and Political Funds Charges, Guilty Only of Accepting Luxury Goods
"First Lady, as a National Symbol, Abandoned Integrity and Restraint for Lavish Adornment"

Kim Keonhee, who was indicted and detained on charges including receiving money and valuables from the Unification Church, was found guilty on one of three charges and sentenced to one year and eight months in prison in the first trial.

Yonhap News

On January 28, the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Woo Inseong) sentenced Kim to one year and eight months in prison and ordered her to forfeit 12,815,000 won. She had been charged with violations of the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act, and aggravated bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Previously, during the sentencing hearing last month, the special prosecutor had requested a total of 15 years in prison, a fine of 2 billion won, and forfeiture of approximately 948 million won. The court found Kim not guilty of charges related to the alleged stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors (violation of the Capital Markets Act) and the Myung Taegyun opinion poll case (violation of the Political Funds Act).

Kim was indicted in August last year on charges of participating in the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation scheme between October 2010 and December 2012, allegedly gaining illicit profits of about 810 million won. The court acknowledged that Kim may have had "tacit awareness" of the stock manipulation activities, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to consider her a "co-principal" who led the crime, and thus acquitted her. No member of the stock manipulation group testified that they directly informed the defendant of the criminal activities, and the court found it difficult to conclude that Kim understood the structure of the price rigging.

Regarding the charge that Kim received the results of 58 opinion polls worth about 274 million won from Myung Taegyun free of charge before and after the 2022 presidential election, the court also acquitted her, stating, "There is no evidence that she ordered or commissioned the opinion polls, nor is there any material to suggest an implicit contract was established." Instead, the court found that the decision to conduct and publish the polls was made independently by Myung, and that Kim was merely one of the recipients.

However, the court found her partially guilty of accepting high-value goods from the Unification Church in connection with requests for favors regarding church-related issues. The court stated, "The defendant misused her position as a means for personal gain," and "she failed to refuse the luxury goods offered in connection with the Unification Church's requests and instead used them for her own adornment." Since the goods could not be confiscated, the court ordered forfeiture of their equivalent value.

The court noted, "Although the First Lady has no constitutional authority, she is in the closest position to the President and can exercise influence, serving as a symbolic representative of the nation," adding, "Such a position requires a high degree of integrity and restrained conduct."

With this ruling, South Korea has set an unprecedented legal precedent in which both a former president and his spouse have been sentenced to prison. A legal expert commented, "The fact that both the president and his spouse have faced prison sentences in court at the same time demonstrates the rigor of our rule of law."

In addition, Kim faces two more trials: one for allegedly soliciting Unification Church members to join the party en masse to support a specific candidate ahead of the People Power Party convention in March 2023, and another for allegedly receiving money and valuables in exchange for public office appointments. Former President Yoon, who was sentenced to five years in prison for obstructing an arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, has been indicted a total of seven times by the prosecution and three special prosecutors (insurrection, Kim Keonhee, and the fallen marine case), and is undergoing separate trials for each. The first verdict in the insurrection leader case, which is considered the essence of martial law, is scheduled for February 19.

Meanwhile, the sentencing of Kim's first trial was broadcast live on TV and YouTube. This is the first time a sentencing hearing for a former First Lady has been broadcast live. Among the cases indicted by the three special prosecutors, this is the third to be broadcast, following those of former President Yoon and former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo.