Ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee appeals 20-month prison sentence in corruption trial

▲ Former first lady Kim Keon Hee (Yonhap)

▲ A news report on the Seoul Central District Court's sentencing of former first lady Kim Keon Hee on charges of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church is aired on a television at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Jan. 28, 2026. (Yonhap)

ex-first lady-trial

Ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee appeals 20-month prison sentence in corruption trial

By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- Former first lady Kim Keon Hee's lawyers on Monday appealed against a court ruling sentencing her to 20 months in prison for accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence last Wednesday, making Kim and her husband, ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the country's first former presidential couple to be imprisoned with criminal convictions.

In the ruling, the court also ordered her to forfeit 12.8 million won (US$8,770), while acquitting her of charges of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and violating the Political Funds Act.

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