Kim Keon-hee arrives at the Seoul Central District Court. (pool photo)
A Seoul court has sentenced Kim Keon-hee, the wife of impeached former President Yoon Suk-yeol, to seven years behind bars for accepting cash and valuables worth over 300 million won in return for arranging job appointments and government contracts. The Seoul Central District Court on Friday convicted Kim on all counts of accepting bribes in exchange for facilitating dealings with public officials. “The fact that figures from various corners of society approached the defendant and provided money or other valuables in connection with matters ranging from government posts and public contracts to nominations by the ruling party demonstrates that the informal web of solicitation in which the defendant was enmeshed was not confined to any specific group, but was instead broadly established across society as a whole,” the court said in its ruling. “The process of public decision-making that ought to have been conducted fairly and transparently was instead tied to the exchange of money and benefits, thereby being reduced to an object of transaction for the defendant’s personal gain. The resulting harm goes beyond the mere receipt of illicit payments, in that it fundamentally undermined, and indeed eroded, public trust in the fairness of official decision-making,” the court found. Special counsel Min Joung-kie had requested a sentence of 7.5 years and a fine of 56.36 million won. Kim stood trial on multiple counts of accepting bribes, including a Dior bag given to her by the pastor Choi Jae-young; a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and other valuables worth a total of 103.8 million won from Seohee Construction CEO Lee Bong-kwan; a Vacheron Constantin watch from Seo Seong-bin, an entrepreneur whose robotic dog business was awarded a government tender; a golden turtle figurine worth 2.65 million won and a piece of artwork from Lee Bae-yong, the former chairperson of the National Education Commission; and a painting by Lee U-fan worth 140 million won from Kim Sang-min, a former senior prosecutor.These items were allegedly provided in exchange for assistance in securing government appointments or public contracts.Choi, Lee Bong-kwan, and Seo were also found guilty of violating anti-graft laws by providing bribes. By Lee Na-young, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
