UPDATES WITH SENTENCE AGAINST OPPOSITION LAWMAKER, ADDS SECOND DECK
By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) - A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in jail in a corruption case after finding her guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the controversial Unification Church, Yonhap news reported.
The Seoul Central District Court announced the verdict. However, it acquitted her of charges of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and of violating the Political Funds Act.
Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term for Kim.
Last month, Kim was indicted on charges of accepting luxury gifts from business figures in exchange for government posts and political nominations.
Prosecutors alleged she received gifts worth about 370 million won ($258,000), including an expensive painting, to support a candidate seeking the ruling People Power Party’s nomination in last year’s general elections.
Kim's husband and the ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol were also sentenced earlier this month to five years in prison on charges of obstructing investigators’ attempts to detain him last year, including by ordering the Presidential Security Service to block the execution of a detention warrant at the official presidential residence.
The ruling marked the first sentence among eight cases Yoon is standing trial for, including charges that he led an insurrection through his December 2024 declaration of martial law.
Separately, a local court on Wednesday sentenced opposition lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong to two years in jail for accepting $70,336 in political funds from the controversial Unification Church.
The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence to the People Power Party lawmaker after a prosecutor had sought a four-year jail term for Kweon on charges of accepting money from a former Unification Church official in January 2022.
Kweon, a five-term lawmaker, was known for his close ties with Yoon.
Last year, South Korean authorities also indicted controversial church leader Han Hak-ja on charges of bribery, embezzlement, and evidence tampering linked to former first lady Kim and the then-ruling People Power Party.
The Unification Church, founded in 1954 by staunch anti-communists in South Korea, is widely labeled a cult.
A Japanese court last year ordered the dissolution of its branch, leading to the loss of its legal status.