Kim Keon Hee, wife of disgraced and jailed former President Yoon Suk Yeol, has been sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for bribery in one of three ongoing criminal trials she faces.
The verdict was delivered by the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday, January 29, 2026. Both prosecutors and Kim’s legal team can appeal the ruling.
The court found Kim guilty of accepting bribes from the controversial Unification Church (also known as the Moonies), including a Chanel handbag and a Graff diamond necklace. However, she was acquitted on charges of stock manipulation and conspiring with her husband to receive free public opinion polls, due to insufficient evidence and expired statute of limitations. She was also cleared of accepting a second Chanel bag.
Prosecutors had estimated the combined value of the stocks, bribes, and polls at approximately 1.15 billion Korean won (about $813,000).
In mitigation, the presiding judge noted that Kim had not actively solicited the gifts, did not relay requests from the church to her husband, and is now “self-reflecting” on her actions.
Long List of Scandals
Kim Keon Hee has been at the centre of controversy since before her husband’s presidency began in 2022:
- In 2021, she publicly apologised for inflating her resume ahead of Yoon’s election campaign, vowing to remain a supportive wife if he won.
- Persistent allegations of academic plagiarism led Sookmyung Women’s University to revoke her master’s degree in 2025, followed by Kookmin University revoking her PhD.
- Long-standing claims that she manipulated stocks between 2010 and 2012 related to the Korean BMW dealership Deutsch Motors to earn unfair profits. Yoon, as president, vetoed a bill calling for a special investigation into the matter.
- The most damaging scandal involved a $2,200 Christian Dior handbag (separate from the Chanel bags in Wednesday’s ruling). A secretly filmed video released in late 2023 showed a Korean-American pastor gifting the bag to Kim in 2022. South Korea’s anti-graft law prohibits public officials and their spouses from receiving gifts worth more than $750 in connection with public duties.
The Dior bag scandal contributed to Yoon’s plummeting approval ratings. Kim largely disappeared from public view until Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law in December 2024 plunged the nation—and the couple—into crisis.
Presidential Downfall
Yoon’s martial law decree was swiftly overturned by legislators. He was impeached and removed from office, triggering multiple special investigations into him, his wife, and his deputies.
Yoon is currently on trial for insurrection over the martial law declaration, along with numerous other allegations. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to five years for defying attempts to detain him and for denying Cabinet members the chance to debate the decree. He still faces eight additional criminal trials.
Kim’s bribery conviction marks the latest blow to the former first couple, both of whom have repeatedly denied wrongdoing—though Kim has admitted receiving the Chanel bags from the Unification Church.
The leader of the Unification Church is also on trial over the bribes.
A Historic First
This is the first time in South Korean history that a former presidential couple has been jailed at the same time.
Yoon, as a prosecutor, once helped imprison former President Park Geun-hye for corruption and abuse of power. Now, both he and his wife face prison sentences.
The cases continue to unfold, with further trials and potential longer sentences still ahead.
