Seoul, South Korea — A South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting bribes.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Wednesday that Kim accepted luxury gifts — including two Chanel bags and a diamond necklace — from a Unification Church official in 2022 in exchange for business favors.
Meanwhile, her involvement in stock manipulation charges was dismissed.
It can be recalled that she was accused of earning more than 800 million won, or about 32 million pesos, by conspiring with others to artificially inflate the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a South Korean car dealership, between 2009 and 2012.
This ruling however made prosecutors to seek a much harsher penalty, including 15 years in prison and a 2-billion-won fine.
Meanwhile, Kim’s legal team has also sought to appeal the decision.
Kim was arrested last August 2025 after the Seoul district court issued an arrest warrant on her.
She now joins her husband, ousted ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol, after being sentenced to five-years of prison for abuse of power after a shocking declaration of martial law in December 2024.
The said martial law only lasted for six hours.