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South Korea’s ex-first lady Kim Keon-hee gets 20 months’ jail for corruption
A court sentenced Kim for receiving luxury items from an official linked to the Unification Church
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A South Korean court sentenced former first lady Kim Keon-hee to 20 months in prison for corruption on Wednesday but acquitted her of alleged stock manipulation and other charges.
While the ruling marked the first time that both members of a presidential couple were convicted of crimes in South Korea, analysts described Kim’s lighter punishment as a “courtroom victory” after prosecutors sought a 15-year jail term, a 2 billion won (US$1.4 million) fine and 948 million won in forfeiture for the three core charges.
Her husband, former president Yoon Suk-yeol, was handed a five-year jail term earlier this month after being found guilty of multiple charges, including attempts to block his arrest following his botched 2024 martial law decree.
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Yoon, 65, separately faces either life imprisonment or the death penalty in another case.
Kim, 53, was at the centre of a string of influence-peddling and bribery scandals throughout Yoon’s presidency, which was cut short to less than three years after his failed self-coup attempt led to his impeachment and removal from office.
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Kim was arrested and indicted in August last year on charges of manipulating stocks of Deutsche Motors between 2010 and 2012, allegedly reaping around 810 million won in illegal profits.
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