According to reports from CCTV News, the Seoul Central District Court handed down a first-instance verdict on June 26, sentencing former First Lady Kim Keon-hee to seven years in prison. The case centered on allegations that she exploited her influential position to accept high-value gifts and engage in “trafficing in influence” for political favors.
The Special Investigation Group released its final findings on December 29, 2025, concluding that Kim used her status as the President’s spouse to extensively interfere in personnel matters and accept luxury goods. The investigation determined her actions crossed the line into trading influence, leading to charges against Kim and 75 others.
In May of this year, prosecutors requested a 7.5-year sentence for Kim, alongside the confiscation of涉案 assets including jewelry, designer watches, and artwork, as well as the recovery of over 56.3 million KRW in illegal gains.
The corruption model involving the Yoon-Kim couple, characterized by a systematic abuse of presidential power and spousal coordination, has become a landmark case in South Korean politics. Kim faces charges including bribery and manipulation of stock prices. Together, they set a grim record in South Korea’s constitutional history as the first former presidential couple both to be imprisoned.
On April 28, the Seoul High Court issued its second-instance verdict on charges including stock manipulation, sentencing Kim to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million KRW (approx. 230,000 RMB). This sentence was significantly heavier than the first-instance term of 1 year and 8 months.
Unlike the first trial, which only partially confirmed bribery suspicions, the second trial found Kim guilty of stock manipulation charges.
During the first-instance verdict on January 28, Kim was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months. Kim’s legal team immediately expressed dissatisfaction with the second-instance ruling and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court of Korea.
Previously, in December of last year, the Special Investigation Group had requested a 15-year prison sentence and a fine of 2 billion KRW (approx. 9.78 million RMB) against Kim, citing stock manipulation and bribery.
Prosecutors argued that Kim played a deep role in manipulating the stock prices of “Deutsche Auto” (a placeholder name for the implicated company) for personal profit and accepted luxury gifts, thereby undermining democratic rule of law. Other implicated individuals included executives from the company, political figures, and private citizens, though specific identities were not fully disclosed in public reports.
Subsequently, the Special Investigation Group into Yoon Suk-yeol stated there was no evidence that Kim attended meetings or directly intervened in the implementation of the martial law declaration. It was noted that while she had various schemes and ideas, the situation spiraled out of control due to Yoon Suk-yeol’s reckless announcement of emergency martial law.
Following the investigation into the emergency martial law and her husband’s impeachment, Kim’s health deteriorated significantly. On June 16 of last year, she was admitted to Seoul Asan Medical Center due to worsening condition. Sources from both the legal and medical communities revealed that her hospitalization was due to severe depression.
Kim Keon-hee, 53, was born in Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province. Beyond these criminal charges, since Yoon Suk-yeol launched his presidential campaign in December 2021, Kim has been plagued by scandals involving academic misconduct and resume fabrication.
On June 16 of last year, Sookmyung Women’s University announced the revocation of Kim’s master’s degree. It was revealed that after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1996, Kim pursued a master’s in Art Education at Sookmyung Women’s University and a PhD in Design at Kookmin University.
After allegations were raised by alumni, Sookmyung Women’s University launched a preliminary investigation in February 2022. This year, in February, the university officially ruled that Kim’s master’s thesis constituted plagiarism.
Meanwhile, former President Yoon Suk-yeol faces over a dozen charges, including insurrection, abuse of power, and forgery of official documents. On the evening of January 13, prosecutors requested the death penalty for Yoon, citing suspicions of leading the insurrection.
Earlier this month, Yoon Suk-yeol received a 30-year prison sentence in the first instance for “orchestrating the drone incursion incident over Pyongyang.”
The Special Investigation Group into the insurrection requested a 30-year sentence for Yoon on April 24. The case primarily involves charges of “general treasonous activity” and abuse of power.
In October 2024, North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned South Korea for launching multiple drones carrying anti-North propaganda over Pyongyang, stating it violated national sovereignty and security and severely breached international law.
Subsequent investigations by South Korean prosecutors revealed that Yoon Suk-yeol and then-Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun attempted to use the drone incident to provoke a North Korean attack. Their plan was for Yoon to declare emergency martial law to suppress opposition parties and lock down the National Assembly if North Korea fired back.
