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| ▲ Former first lady Kim Keon Hee (2nd from R) speaks to her lawyer during her trial at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 3, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) ex-first lady-appeals trial
(LEAD) Special counsel seeks 15-yr jail term for ex-first lady in corruption appeals trial
(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with hearing details)
By Chae Yun-hwan
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- A special counsel team on Wednesday demanded a 15-year prison term for former first lady Kim Keon Hee in her appeals trial on multiple charges, including accepting luxury goods from the Unification Church.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team made the request during the final hearing of her appellate trial at the Seoul High Court, matching its earlier sentencing recommendation at a lower court, which handed down a far shorter 20-month term.
Kim is accused of receiving luxury items along with favors from the church, involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and violating a political funds law for accepting free opinion polls with her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"Considering the big impact on society and the values undermined from the crime the defendant committed, the (earlier) sentence is much too light," Min's team said at the hearing.
In January, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Kim of accepting a Chanel bag and a Graff diamond necklace, along with business favors from the Unification Church in 2022.
The court, however, acquitted her of involvement in the stock price manipulation scheme between 2010 and 2012 and violating the Political Funds Act for accepting the opinion polls from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
While the court recognized that Kim may have been aware of the stock price manipulation, it said that she could not be seen as an accomplice. It also determined that Kim and her husband could not have financially benefited from the opinion polls.
Both Kim and Min's team appealed the ruling.
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