Prosecutors seek 15-year sentence for former first lady Kim Keon Hee
Former first lady Kim Keon Hee, center, appears for a final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Wednesday. Yonhap
Prosecutors on Wednesday sought a 15-year prison sentence and 2 billion won ($1.36 million) fine for Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, on charges including stock price manipulation and accepting bribes.
The move came about three months after Kim was indicted and exactly one year after Yoon declared martial law. The former first lady remained a key figure in political and legal scandals throughout the previous presidential administration.
“I feel wronged, but I believe it is true that I did wrong compared to the position and qualification I held.” Kim said in a statement. “I sincerely apologize for causing great concern to the public.”
A special counsel team was launched in July to investigate 16 allegations against Kim, and she was detained the following month over concerns that she might destroy evidence. She has remained in custody throughout the trial.
Among the allegations, the most serious involves stock price manipulation.
Between 2009 and 2012, a group of individuals manipulated the share price of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in Korea, using 157 stock accounts under 91 names. The Supreme Court upheld their convictions in April. Kim has faced allegations of involvement in the scheme.
Kim is also accused of conspiring with Yoon from 2021 to 2022 to obtain 58 opinion polls valued at 270 million won ($183,000) for free from political broker Myung Tae-kyun, in violation of the Political Funds Act.
Prosecutors also allege that Kim accepted bribes in the form of luxury gifts in 2022, including designer handbags and diamond jewelry, from the Unification Church through an intermediary, in exchange for support for the religious group.
At Wednesday’s final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, the special counsel questioned Kim over her alleged role in the stock manipulation scheme, but she refused to testify.
“Under the Constitutional order, no one stands above the law and no one exists outside of it,” prosecutors said in their sentencing argument.
“However, the defendant alone has acted as if she were above the reach of the law. ... While all the other accomplices have stood before the court, the defendant alone has been excepted, and she effectively undermined the national judiciary system.”
Min Jung-ki, the special counsel leading the investigation and a former chief judge of the Seoul Central District Court, also appeared in court for the first time since taking the role.
Last month, Kim acknowledged receiving designer handbags twice from the broker but denied any exchange of favors with the Unification Church.
Kim has maintained that she was unaware of any alleged stock rigging in the Deutsch Motors case. She further argued that she never had a formal contract with Myung to receive polling data, asserting that the charges cannot stand.
A verdict in Kim’s first-instance trial could come as soon as Jan. 28.