"Serious Legal Violations"... Kim Gunhee Special Prosecutor Appeals First Trial Acquittal on Deutsche and Other Charges

"Serious Misjudgment of Facts in the First Trial"

The special prosecutor's team led by Min Jungki has appealed the first trial verdict, which found former President Yoon Sukyeol's wife, Kim Gunhee, not guilty of most charges and sentenced her to a prison term.

On December 3 last year, at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the sentencing hearing for Kim Gunhee, who is accused of stock manipulation and solicitation related to the Unification Church, was held, and Kim was entering the courtroom. Photo by Joint Press Corps

In a statement, the special prosecutor's team announced on the 30th that they had filed an appeal, stating, "The first trial verdict contains serious factual errors and misinterpretations of the law regarding the not guilty rulings, and the sentence for the guilty charges is excessively lenient."

Previously, on the 28th, 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 pay a forfeiture of 12,815,000 won. She had been indicted for violations of the Capital Markets Act and the Political Funds Act, as well as for receiving bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

During the sentencing hearing, the special prosecutor's team had requested a total sentence of 15 years in prison, a fine of 2 billion won, and a forfeiture of approximately 948 million won.

The court found Kim not guilty of the charges related to the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation (violation of the Capital Markets Act) and the Myung Taegyun opinion poll (violation of the Political Funds Act). The court explained that although Kim entrusted her account to those involved in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation, she was not considered an accomplice, and that receiving an opinion poll free of charge from Myung Taegyun could not be regarded as a "property benefit."

However, the court did find Kim partially guilty of receiving expensive goods along with a request for church-related favors from former Unification Church World Headquarters Director Yoon Youngho, through Jeon Seongbae, also known as Geonjin Bopsa.