South Korea’s former first lady, Kim Keon Hee, has taken her corruption conviction to the Supreme Court, according to local media reports on Monday.
A special counsel team confirmed it has formally contested the appellate court’s decision, which sentenced Kim to four years in prison on corruption-related charges, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
The Seoul High Court recently increased her sentence from 20 months to four years, ruling her partially guilty of participating in a stock price manipulation scheme.
The court also upheld charges that she accepted high-value gifts from the Unification Church.
This tougher sentence followed the appeals court’s reversal of a lower court ruling, which had cleared her of involvement in stock manipulation and convicted her only on limited counts related to the acceptance of luxury items.
In addition to the prison term, Kim was fined 50 million won (approximately $34,000).
The court also ordered the confiscation of a necklace and the forfeiture of roughly 20 million won (about $13,590).
Kim is married to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office last year after being found guilty over his declaration of martial law in December 2024.
Several legal cases have since been brought against Yoon, who is currently serving a life sentence tied to the martial law decision.
