Politics South Korea's former first lady convicted of corruption
South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for bribery. The Seoul Central District Court found it proven that the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted several luxury gifts and abused her position for personal gain.
28.01.2026, 08:25
SDA
The 53-year-old was acquitted of a further charge of share manipulation. The verdict is not legally binding. The public prosecutor's office had originally demanded a sentence of 15 years in prison. Kim had been in custody since August.
Her husband, South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was deposed in 2025, is also in prison. He was sentenced to five years in prison in mid-January for obstruction of justice. In a separate trial, the public prosecutor's office demanded the death penalty for Yoon on suspicion of sedition. A verdict is scheduled for February 19. Although the death penalty is still imposed in South Korea, it has not been carried out for almost 30 years.
At the beginning of December 2024, the conservative politician unexpectedly declared martial law in the course of a budget dispute with the opposition, plunging his country into a deep national crisis. South Korea has been ruled by the left-of-center Lee Jae Myung since last summer.
