Kim Keonhee: "I Heard a Loud Cheer and Burst Into Tears"
First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who is currently incarcerated after being sentenced to one year and eight months in prison at the first trial with part of the bribery-for-favor charges being found guilty, recently sent a letter from prison to a supporter, stating that she is "indescribably grateful" that people "show love even to someone as lacking and sinful as me."
Kim Keon-hee (left) and the handwritten letter he recently sent to supporters. Presidential Office photojournalists, online community
On the 12th, various online communities were circulating a photo of a handwritten letter that a supporter received after sending a letter to Seoul Southern Detention Center, where Kim is being held. This came after the supporter who received the letter released a photo containing the full text of Kim's one-page reply.
The letter begins with the supporter’s name followed by, "This is Kim Keon-hee." In the letter, Kim wrote, "Today is Sunday, and as it is nearing 8 p.m., a couple of hours ago I heard loud cheers and ended up shedding tears," adding, "I often want to at least wave my hand to the people outside who are cheering for me and communicate with them, but the windows are completely controlled, so there is no other choice."
She went on to say, "Because you are people who show love even to someone as lacking and sinful as me, I pray that God will surely protect you," and added, "Since you are giving me comfort, I must try to stay strong even if I am in poor health." She also wrote, "You forgive me and comfort me, so how could there be any greater grace of God than this?" and added, "I am indescribably grateful. I am truly grateful."
Updates on Kim’s current situation have also been conveyed through her legal team. Attorney Yoo Jung-hwa, who is in charge of her defense, posted on her social networking service (SNS) account on the 31st of last month an article titled "We remember every heart you have sent," writing, "She reads the short messages, letters, and prayers that you send along with deposits into her prison account, and she puts the drawings or photos you send with the letters up on the detention center wall and finds great comfort in them."
The attorney also explained that, although Kim is unable to send replies due to health issues such as dizziness, she is writing down supporters’ names one by one in a notebook to remember them. She continued, "On behalf of the First Lady, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has cared for her and shared their hearts," and added, "Given how sensitive this period is, we ask for your understanding that she is unable to respond to you due to restrictions on general visits and her health condition."
On the 28th of last month, when the sentencing hearing was held in the case alleging Kim Geonhee's violations of the Capital Markets Act and the Political Funds Act and of accepting bribes under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, citizens in the concourse of Seoul Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, were watching the related news. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 28th of last month, at the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Woo Inseong), Kim was sentenced at the first trial to one year and eight months in prison. Among the three major sets of allegations - involvement in stock price manipulation of Deutsch Motors, allegations related to Myung Tae-gyun, and allegations of receiving money and valuables from the Unification Church - the court found her partially guilty on the bribery-for-favor charge that she had received a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace in July 2022.
However, she was acquitted of the allegations that were at the center of the investigation and trial, including the alleged involvement in Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation and the allegations related to Myung Tae-gyun, on the grounds that there was insufficient proof of crime. On the day of the sentencing, Kim stated through her legal team that she "humbly accepts the court’s grave criticism." Afterward, both Kim and the special prosecutor appealed, and the Seoul High Court is scheduled to hear the case.
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