▲ File photos of shaman Jeon Seong-bae (L) and former Unification Church official Yun Young-ho (Yonhap)

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Supreme Court upholds prison terms for shaman, ex-Unification Church official

SEOUL, July 9 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed prison sentences for a shaman and a former Unification Church official in a bribery case linked to former first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The top court upheld a lower court's prison term of five years and a forfeit of 180 million won (US$120,000) for shaman Jeon Seong-bae, better known as Geonjin. It also approved a separate prison term of 1 1/2 years for Yun Young-ho, who formerly served as head of the church's global headquarters.

Jeon was indicted for accepting some 80 million won worth of goods from Yun, along with requests to support the church, in 2022 in violation of the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation. He is accused of colluding in the crime with Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Yun was indicted on charges of delivering a diamond necklace, a Chanel bag and other gifts to Kim through Jeon in 2022 while requesting government cooperation on various church issues.

He is also accused of providing illegal political funds to People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong and other political figures from 2021 to 2024 in exchange for cooperation for church events.

The Supreme Court's confirmation of the guilty verdicts for Jeon and Yun is expected to affect the outcome of the appeals of Kim and Kweon.

Kim and Kweon were sentenced to four and two years, respectively, in prison on charges of receiving illicit money and valuables from Yun and have appealed to the Supreme Court.

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