Sentence for ex-S. Korean president Yoon's wife increased to 4 years on appeal for corruption

SEOUL, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The sentence for Kim Keon-hee, wife of South Korea's former President Yoon Suk-yeol, was increased to four years on appeal for corruption, live footage showed Tuesday.

The Seoul High Court overturned the lower court's ruling, stiffening Kim's prison term from 20 months to four years with a fine of 50 million won (about 33,910 U.S. dollars).

The team of Min Joong-ki, an independent counsel who led an investigation into corruption charges involving Yoon and his wife, sought a 15-year jail term in the appellate court after requesting the same sentence in the first instance.

The court confirmed that Kim participated in stock price manipulation, finding her guilty on the receipt of valuables from the Unification Church.

Following the second-instance ruling, Kim's legal team said it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Kim was accused of receiving valuables from Unification Church officials in exchange for favorable treatment of the religious group in 2022.

She was charged with violating the Capital Markets Act by gaining illicit profits through her involvement in stock price manipulation between October 2010 and December 2012.

She was also charged with violating the Political Funds Act for allegedly conspiring with Yoon to receive illegal public opinion poll results free of charge from a political broker on 58 occasions ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

Kim, who was indicted under detention in August 2025, became the first wife of a former South Korean president to be tried under detention.

Separately, Kim was indicted on charges of requesting mass enrollment of Unification Church members in the People Power Party to support a specific candidate as a party leader in the party's national convention.

She also faced charges of accepting valuables in exchange for providing business favors and selling public offices.