A Seoul court sentenced Kim Gun-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and former First Lady of South Korea, to seven years in prison for accepting expensive items and gifts in exchange for influencing government appointments and facilitating business benefits, along with ordering asset confiscation and additional fines.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 ruled today (26 Jun) to sentence Kim Gun-hee, former First Lady and wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, to seven years in prison, finding her guilty on all charges under laws imposing severe penalties for specific crimes, including bribery for mediation and favoritism.
In addition to the seven-year prison term, the court ordered the confiscation of evidence including paintings by the renowned artist Lee Woo-hwan and imposed a civil fine of 64.8 million won (approximately 1.41 million baht). This verdict closely matches the prosecution's prior request for a seven-year and six-month sentence.
The court stated in its judgment that the numerous high-value gifts received by the defendant cannot be considered mere "gifts symbolizing goodwill or customary greetings" under societal norms, but clearly represent concealed reciprocal benefits.
The court declared, "As the spouse of the president, a position under constant scrutiny and approached by stakeholders, the defendant should have maintained strict personal integrity and caution. However, she repeatedly abandoned her social responsibility by accepting money and goods."
Furthermore, the court criticized the former First Lady's conduct, stating, "The defendant easily accepted highly valuable items unattainable by ordinary citizens in a lifetime without hesitation. The backgrounds and professions of those offering money and gifts ranged from mid-sized construction company presidents, businessmen, Korean Americans, pastors, active prosecutors to university presidents, reflecting a disturbingly widespread informal bribery network throughout society."
Although during the trial Kim Gun-hee’s legal team admitted to receiving items, they denied it was in exchange for acting as a mediator in appointments. However, the court ruled, "This is merely an excuse to evade legal responsibility."
Special prosecutors' investigation revealed that Kim Gun-hee accepted bribes from various individuals in 2022 in exchange for abusing her power. Between March and May 2022, she received Van Cleef & Arpels luxury necklace and earrings valued at 103.8 million won from Lee Bong-gwan, president of Seohee Construction, in exchange for securing a job position for Park Seong-geun, former Prime Minister’s secretary-general and son-in-law of the company president.
In April and June 2022, she accepted a "golden beetle" and an ancient painting "Sehando" worth 2.65 million won from Lee Bae-young, former chairperson of the National Education Committee, in exchange for appointments. In September 2022, she received a Vacheron Constantin luxury wristwatch valued at 33.9 million won from Seo, president of a dog robot development company, to facilitate business favors.
She also accepted a painting by artist Lee Woo-hwan valued at 140 million won from former prosecutor Kim Sang-min to lobby for People Power Party election candidacy tickets, as well as the notorious scandal of receiving a Dior luxury handbag from Pastor Choi Jae-young between June and September 2022.
On the same day, the court also sentenced other offenders and bribe givers: Lee Bong-gwan, president of Seohee Construction, received a one-year prison term suspended for two years; Seo Seong-bin, president of DroneDom, received a ten-month prison term suspended for two years; and Pastor Choi Jae-young was fined eight million won.
At the final hearing in May, Kim Gun-hee expressed remorse, stating, "I sincerely repent for my careless and imprudent actions. I wholeheartedly apologize to all citizens and will spend the remainder of my life atoning for my sins."
This seven-year prison sentence for the former First Lady marks a historic political case in South Korea, underscoring uncompromising measures against corruption at the highest levels of national leadership.
. SourceYonhap/Herald Corp/newsis.com