A special counsel team on Wednesday sought a 15-year prison term for former first lady Kim Keon Hee, appealing a lower court ruling that convicted her of taking bribes from the Unification Church but acquitted her of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and of illegally receiving opinion polling data for free.
A lower court in January sentenced Kim to one year and eight months in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 12.8 million won ($8,700) after finding her guilty of receiving bribes from the Unification Church.
The special counsel had also sought a 15-year prison term in the lower court proceedings.
In its appellate argument, the special counsel team said the original sentence was far too lenient given the seriousness of the offenses and their broader impact on society.
“This case involves conduct that systematically undermined the securities market and reaped private profits,” the special counsel said. “If the defendant’s actions are treated as mere investment, ordinary citizens who invest honestly will not be protected, and market order will inevitably be shaken.”
It added that the lower court’s sentence failed to reflect the scale of the social damage caused by Kim’s alleged actions.
“Given the profound social shock caused by the defendant’s conduct and the serious damage done to protected legal values, the sentence handed down by the lower court is far too light,” the special counsel said.
Kim was indicted in August last year on charges including participating in the manipulation of Deutsch Motors’ stock price from October 2010 to December 2012 and gaining 810 million won in illicit profits.
She was also charged with conspiring with former President Yoon Suk Yeol between June 2021 and March 2022 to receive polling data worth 270 million won from political broker Myung Tae-kyun, and with conspiring with Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman, to accept luxury goods worth a combined 80 million won from a Unification Church official in exchange for favors.
The lower court, however, cleared Kim of the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and polling data charges, finding her guilty only on charges related to receiving the luxury goods from the Unification Church.
The appellate court is expected to review the lower court’s findings and legal reasoning before delivering its ruling on April 28.
seungku99@heraldcorp.com
