In a landmark ruling that marks a high-profile reckoning for South Korea’s former political leadership, Seoul Central District Court has sentenced Kim Keon-hee, the wife of ousted ex-president Yoon Suk-yeol, to seven years behind bars on criminal bribery charges. The conviction was issued on Friday, after the court unanimously found Kim guilty of accepting hundreds of millions of won in illicit luxury gifts in exchange for leveraging her position as first lady to secure job placements and other political favors for private gain.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, the court upheld all charges brought against Kim, confirming she received approximately 300 million won ($195,000) in valuable goods in return for facilitating favor requests from individuals across multiple sectors of society. The seven-year sentence handed down is six months shorter than the total prison term prosecutors with the special counsel team had initially requested in the case.
Kim’s defense team had contested the charges throughout the trial, arguing either that the former first lady never accepted the gifts in question, or that the items were not tied to any specific formal requests for favors. The court rejected these claims outright in its written ruling, issuing a sharp rebuke of Kim’s conduct while holding public office.
“The defendant neglected the social responsibility demanded by her position as first lady and instead used it as a tool for private gain,” the court wrote in its ruling. It further noted that the widespread willingness of figures from diverse industry and political sectors to approach Kim with gifts and solicitation requests confirmed that an extensive, informal patronage network had formed around her during her time in the Blue House.
“Public decision-making processes, which should be fair and transparent, became entangled with money and were reduced to tradeable goods for her personal benefit. This fundamentally undermined the fairness and trust in public decision-making,” the ruling added.
Immediately after the sentence was issued, Kim’s legal representatives told reporters that they believe the court overemphasized evidence and circumstances unfavorable to their client, announcing plans to launch a full review of the written judgment ahead of a formal appeal. The special counsel team, by contrast, welcomed the court’s verdict, framing it as a balanced, appropriate ruling that aligns with widespread public expectations of justice in South Korea.
This sentencing marks the second major conviction for Kim this year. In April, an appellate court threw out a lower court’s 20-month sentence and instead handed down a four-year prison term for Kim in a separate, unrelated case involving stock manipulation and additional bribery charges. Legal analysts note that the cumulative sentences could result in a decades-long prison term for the former first lady if both convictions are upheld on appeal, marking one of the most severe penalties ever issued for a South Korean first spouse convicted of public corruption.