(Kim Keon Hee. Sahara Reporters)
South Korea’s former First Lady, Kim Keon Hee, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after a Seoul court found her guilty of bribery, marking a significant development in the country’s prolonged political crisis that has already brought down the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The ruling was delivered on Friday, less than a year after prosecutors formally charged Kim with multiple offences including bribery, violations of financial market laws, and political funding regulations.
Kim’s conviction followed months of investigations into alleged corruption involving the former first lady and senior officials who served under her husband’s administration.
In August 2025, a team led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki announced that Kim had been indicted on the charges, approximately two weeks after a court ordered her arrest.
The indictment coincided with charges against the country’s former prime minister, broadening investigations into Yoon’s administration.
South Korea’s political turmoil traces back to December 3, 2024, when Yoon declared martial law in an attempt to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Although the declaration lasted only a few hours before lawmakers voted to overturn it, the move plunged the country into months of political upheaval, disrupted foreign policy, and unsettled the economy.
Yoon was subsequently impeached and removed from office in April before being rearrested after his conservative party suffered defeat in an early presidential election.
The new South Korean government appointed three special prosecutors to investigate both the brief imposition of martial law and long-standing corruption allegations involving Yoon and members of his administration.
Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was also charged with abetting the martial law declaration, falsifying and destroying official documents, and lying under oath.
Among the other key suspects is former Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, accused of planning the martial law declaration with Yoon and deploying troops to the National Assembly in a failed bid to prevent lawmakers from voting to lift the emergency order.
More than 60 people were also indicted over riots at a Seoul court following the issuance of the warrant for Yoon’s first arrest in January, while former President Yoon himself was indicted in May 2025 on charges of abuse of authority.
Kim Keon Hee’s seven-year prison sentence represents one of the most significant convictions involving a former South Korean first lady, and underscores the sweeping anti-corruption investigations continuing to reshape the country’s political landscape.