Seoul, Jan 28 (NationPress) A South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church, which had been seeking business favours.

The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki had requested a 15-year prison term for Kim, wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently on trial for an insurrection charge related to his martial law efforts in 2024.

However, the Seoul Central District Court imposed a significantly shorter sentence and acquitted her on charges related to stock price manipulation and violations of the Political Funds Act, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.

Additionally, the court mandated Kim to forfeit 12.8 million won (approximately $9,000). This ruling marks Kim and her husband as the first former presidential couple in South Korea to face imprisonment due to criminal convictions.

Following the verdict, the special counsel announced plans to appeal, expressing dissatisfaction with the ruling.

Kim's legal team argued that the prison sentence for accepting money and gifts was relatively severe and indicated they would deliberate on their next steps, including a potential appeal.

The court found Kim guilty of accepting a Chanel bag and an expensive Graff necklace from a Unification Church official seeking business favours in July 2022, but did not classify another Chanel bag received in April 2022 as a bribe, due to lack of evidence for specific requests.

The court stated, "The defendant exploited her position to seek personal profit," adding that she failed to refuse high-end luxury items connected with the church's requests.

Kim faced accusations of colluding with a former head of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealership in South Korea, to manipulate stock prices, yielding 810 million won in illegal profits from 2010 to 2012.

She was also charged with violating the Political Funds Act by allegedly accepting free opinion polls valued at 270 million won from a self-proclaimed power broker ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

Furthermore, Kim was charged with conspiring with a shaman to receive luxury gifts worth 80 million won from a Unification Church official in 2022, linked to business favours.

Despite being in custody since August, Kim has denied all allegations against her.

Regarding her alleged involvement in stock price manipulation, the court acknowledged her possible awareness of the scheme but was unable to confirm her role as an accomplice.

While the court recognized that she and her husband received free opinion polls from the power broker, it ruled that these did not constitute a financial benefit for the couple, as they were not exclusively provided to them.

Yoon has received a five-year prison sentence on charges related to his martial law initiative in 2024 and is facing additional legal troubles, including charges of leading an insurrection.