Former President Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to seven years in prison by an appellate court on charges including obstructing his arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), a heavier sentence than the five years handed down in the first trial. His wife, former first lady Kim Geon-hee, was also sentenced to four years in prison in the appellate trial on charges related to Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation and receiving money from the Unification Church, heavier than the one year and eight months handed down in the first trial. Each appellate court overturned some of the not-guilty findings against Yoon and Kim, increasing their sentences.
Yoon Suk-yeol's Arrest Obstruction Charges: 5 Years to 7 Years
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 1 (presided over by Chief Judge Yoon Seong-sik), the court's dedicated insurrection bench, on Wednesday sentenced Yoon to seven years in prison on charges of special obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights. The sentence was two years longer than the five years handed down in the first trial. However, it was less than the 10 years sought by the special prosecution team. Yoon stared blankly at the bench when the sentence was announced and left the courtroom shaking hands with his legal team after the hearing ended.
The appellate court found him guilty on all charges except the use of falsely prepared official documents. The appellate court upheld the first trial's guilty finding on charges that Yoon mobilized Presidential Security Service personnel in January last year to block the CIO's execution of an arrest warrant (special obstruction of official duties, abuse of authority obstructing the exercise of rights, and instigation of harboring a criminal), and on charges that he instructed Presidential Security Service Deputy Chief Kim Seong-hoon to delete secure phone communication records of former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyung and others in preparation for the insurrection investigation (instigation of violating the Presidential Security Act).
The appellate court also upheld the first trial's guilty finding on charges that, after the martial law was lifted, Yoon created a false proclamation document to make it appear as though martial law had been carried out under documents countersigned by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun (preparation of false official documents), and subsequently destroyed it (violation of the Presidential Records Act and damaging public documents).
The appellate court rebuked Yoon, saying, "As the sitting president at the time, the defendant bore the heavy responsibility of upholding the Constitution, defending the nation, and striving to promote the freedoms and rights of the people. Yet through this crime, he can only be seen as having abandoned his duties as president by further aggravating social turmoil." The court added, "Even if there were questions about investigative authority, attempting to block the execution of a court-issued warrant by mobilizing physical force cannot be permitted under the principle of the rule of law," adding that Yoon "sought to use Presidential Security Service officials as his private soldiers."
The appellate court overturned some of the not-guilty findings from the first trial. Unlike the first trial, the appellate court found Yoon fully guilty of violating the martial law deliberation rights of nine cabinet members who did not attend the meeting, after he summoned only some cabinet members to create the appearance of a cabinet meeting when declaring martial law. The court also found him guilty of instructing the dissemination to foreign media of press guidance (PG), a government position statement for media response, containing the false claim that there was "not the slightest intention to destroy the constitutional order."
Appellate rulings for Yoon and his wife are expected to continue this year. Combining first and second trials, Yoon faces eight separate trials and Kim faces three.
However, on the charge of using the false official document, the court upheld the first trial's not-guilty finding, stating there was "no act that could be seen as endangering public trust in the document."
After the ruling, Yoon's defense team told reporters, "This is not acceptable, and we will appeal to the Supreme Court and fight fiercely." They also conveyed that Yoon said, "Don't be too disappointed."
Kim Geon-hee: Partial Guilty Verdict on Stock Manipulation — 1 Year 8 Months to 4 Years
Kim also received a heavier sentence in the appellate trial than in the first trial in the case involving charges of Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation and receiving money from the Unification Church. On the 28th of last month, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2 (high court judges Shin Jong-oh, Sung Eon-ju, and Won Ik-sun) sentenced Kim, who had been indicted while in custody on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act, and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes for brokerage bribery, to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won. The sentence was more than double the one year and eight months handed down in the first trial, but fell short of the 15 years sought by the special prosecution team.
Kim, who appeared in court with her hair tied back, wearing black horn-rimmed glasses and a white mask, winced and grimaced when the four-year sentence was announced. She was also seen staggering as she left the courtroom. As when she entered, she was supported by a correctional officer when leaving.
The appellate court overturned the first trial's not-guilty finding on the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation charges and found her partially guilty. The court ruled that her act of providing Blackpearl Invest with a securities account containing 2 billion won in October and November 2010, entrusting it with Deutsch Motors stock trading, and selling 180,000 shares of Deutsch Motors stock during this period constituted participation in price manipulation. The court found that Kim, through this account, conducted 89 matched trades and five wash trades involving 498,670 shares of Deutsch Motors stock, and placed more than 3,085 trade orders, including price manipulation orders.
The appellate court also ruled, unlike the first trial, that the statute of limitations for the stock manipulation crime had not yet expired. The appellate court explained, "As this price manipulation act was a single, continuous crime carried out over a certain period, it collectively constitutes a single violation of the Capital Markets Act." The court reasoned that the indictment was made before the statute of limitations expired, counting from December 5, 2012, the end date of the crime.
However, the court upheld the first trial's finding that Kim's trading of Deutsch Motors stock after settlement could not itself be considered price manipulation. The court stated that the specific amount of unjust gains could not be calculated because the stock holdings and trading activities of all participants in the price manipulation had not been fully identified.
The court overturned the first trial's partial guilty finding on charges under the Aggravated Punishment Act for brokerage bribery related to Kim's receipt of money from the Unification Church from April to July 2022, finding her fully guilty. The court also ordered the confiscation of one Graff necklace worth 62.2 million won and the collection of 20.94 million won. The collection amount equals the combined price of the two Chanel bags and concentrated wild ginseng tea that Kim received from the Unification Church. Kim had been indicted on charges of receiving two Chanel bags, a Graff necklace, and concentrated wild ginseng tea. The appellate court ruled that Kim had received the bags as a form of brokerage, being aware of what it called an "implicit request."
The court explained, "Given that there was a separate channel for delivery through Jeon Seong-bae, known as the Geonjin Beopsa, it was rather natural that there was no explicit request," adding, "At the time the bags and other items were delivered, she appears to have been aware that there was already an implicit intent to make a request, on the premise that such a request would soon be made explicitly and specifically."
However, the court upheld the first trial's not-guilty finding on the charge of violating the Political Funds Act related to "receiving Myung Tae-kyun's polls." The court reasoned that since Myung provided polls not only to Yoon and his wife but also to many other people, the couple could not be seen as having received pecuniary benefits equivalent to the cost of the polls. The court also pointed out that it could not be conclusively determined that Yoon and his wife had promised the party nomination of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun in exchange for the free polls.
After the ruling, Kim's defense counsel told reporters, "Today's ruling seems to have expanded the interpretation of some circumstances," adding, "We will consult and appeal to the Supreme Court."
