{"id":2000117069,"date":"2026-06-26T09:43:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000117069"},"modified":"2026-06-26T09:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:43:07","slug":"former-south-korean-first-lady-kim-keon-hee-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/former-south-korean-first-lady-kim-keon-hee-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-for-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon-hee sentenced to 7 years in prison for corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Seoul Central District Court delivered the ruling in a heavily watched, nationally televised session, capping off a tumultuous political scandal that has gripped the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Kim to pay a heavy fine and forfeit the illicit gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presiding judge delivered a scathing rebuke of Kim\u2019s actions, stating that her conduct severely undermined public trust in the integrity of the presidential office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The defendant leveraged her status as First Lady to engage in systemic corruption, unhesitatingly accepting high-priced luxury goods and assets that are practically unattainable for ordinary citizens,” the court stated. “Her actions demonstrated a flagrant disregard for the law and ethics expected of public figures.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling closely aligned with the demands of the prosecution. An independent counsel team, led by special prosecutor Min Joong-ki, had previously sought a 7.5-year sentence, characterizing Kim’s actions as a structural “cash-for-posts” scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The independent investigation revealed that Kim received roughly 300 million won (about $217,000 USD) worth of cash and valuables in exchange for political favors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the illicit gifts was a luxury Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and earrings set from a construction chair, intended to secure a government chief of staff position for his son-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim was also convicted of accepting a gold turtle and a classic painting from a education official, alongside a Vacheron Constantin wristwatch from a robotics entrepreneur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sentencing marks a historic low point for the legacy of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was himself sentenced to life in prison in February for his December 2024 martial law declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal representatives for Kim voiced strong objections to the verdict, asserting that the evidence was circumstantial, and confirmed they intend to file an immediate appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of extensive corruption, including trading highly coveted government positions for luxury goods and financial favors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korea’s former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of extensive corruption, including trading highly coveted government positions for luxury goods and financial favors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000117072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[151,101],"byline":[235],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000117069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-justice","tag-editors-choice","tag-internationl","byline-xinhua"],"bylines":[{"id":235,"name":"Xinhua","slug":"xinhua","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":80}],"contributors":[{"id":235,"name":"Xinhua","slug":"xinhua","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":80}],"featured_image":{"id":2000117072,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korea's former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday after being found guilty of extensive corruption, including trading highly coveted government positions for luxury goods and financial favors.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":2560,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/06\/689c116084f2e3.12472818.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000117069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000117073,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000117069\/revisions\/2000117073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000117072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000117069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000117069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000117069"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000117069"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000117069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}