The Seoul High Court on Tuesday ordered the sentence of former President Yeol's wife Kim to be increased to four years.
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The crisis for former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has deepened. The Seoul High Court has found his wife and former first lady Kim Geun-hee guilty of additional corruption charges and increased her prison sentence. Yoon is serving a life sentence for abusing her presidency and imposing martial law.
The Seoul High Court on Tuesday ordered Yoon Suk-yeol's wife Kim's sentence to be increased by four years. Earlier in January, a district court sentenced her to 20 months in prison for accepting expensive gifts for political support while having ties to the Unification Church. She was acquitted of charges of stock price manipulation before becoming first lady.
But the high court increased the sentence based on additional evidence. The court concluded that Kim, as a close associate of the president, abused her influence and position to gain personal gain, which seriously damaged public trust in the president.
The political crisis that began in December 2024 when then-President Yun suddenly declared martial law eventually led to his impeachment and removal from office. Since then, Yun has been facing various criminal cases. In February, the Seoul District Court found him guilty of seizing parliament, arresting political opponents, and imposing martial law with the intent to establish an autocratic government, and sentenced him to life in prison.
However, investigators have confirmed that Kim was not directly involved in the martial law case. But his name had already been linked to various scandals. Which had caused a huge drop in Yun's popularity. That gave opponents an opportunity to become more aggressive.
Kim and his lawyer have been given a week to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Seoul High Court ruled that despite the high level of responsibility and ethics associated with public office, he had failed to demonstrate conduct commensurate with it. The court also concluded that Kim took advantage of his position to accept the gift and that it undermined public confidence in the regime.
