DP slams Kim Keon Hee ruling as 'woefully inadequate'
Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 20:55
![Commuters watch news coverage of Kim Keon Hee’s verdict at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Jan. 28. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/72f32b75-839e-491a-8dea-0a7951a058f0.jpg)
Commuters watch news coverage of Kim Keon Hee’s verdict at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Jan. 28. [YONHAP]
The Democratic Party (DP) sharply criticized a court’s ruling on Wednesday that sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in prison in the first trial of the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation and related cases, calling the verdict “absurd.”
The sentence falls far short of the 15-year term sought by the special counsel team on Dec. 3 last year.
“The sentence is so lenient it makes you wonder if the court was worried about damaging the stature of Kim Keon Hee, who effectively shaped state affairs,” DP senior spokesman Park Soo‑hyun said. “It is woefully inadequate for the price she should pay for shaking democracy through insurrection and fracturing state affairs for private gain.”
The reference to “shaking democracy through insurrection” alludes to criticism of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to declare emergency martial law on Dec. 3, 2024.
The court upheld some of the charges against Kim, including accepting gifts from the Unification Church. The court found sufficient evidence to convict her on the charge of soliciting bribes, citing an estimated 12 million-won ($8,400) Chanel bag and a 60 million-won Graff necklace she received in connection with requests from the Unification Church.
But the court acquitted her on another Chanel bag worth about 8 million won, saying it found no evidence of solicitation in that case.
“One luxury bag is not deemed a solicited gift while another luxury bag is deemed so — this bizarre precedent will go down in history,” Park said. “We hope the special counsel immediately appeals for just judgment.”
![The Seoul Central District Court is seen in southern Seoul on Jan. 28. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/b64b0025-442c-4634-a755-8105690febbb.jpg)
The Seoul Central District Court is seen in southern Seoul on Jan. 28. [YONHAP]
Park questioned the court’s logic in not recognizing Kim as a co-perpetrator in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, which centers on allegations that Kim and others conspired to inflate the company’s stock prices through coordinated trading between 2009 and 2012.
“If authorities concluded she was aware of price manipulation but cannot definitively label her a joint perpetrator, what is the difference between that and saying it is hard to conclude that the declaration of martial law under President Yoon was an insurrection?” Park said.
Park also questioned the court’s finding that Kim had no collusion with political broker Myung Tae‑kyun, who allegedly helped orchestrate opinion polls to benefit Yoon’s presidential campaign.
“The collusion is abundantly clear from the facts that have already emerged,” Park said.
Criticism from DP officials quickly spread on social media.
“This is an obvious contradiction and a biased ruling that ignores common sense,” DP Supreme Council member Kang Deuk‑gu wrote.
Fellow DP Supreme Council member Lee Seong‑yun said the decision felt “as if the court is acting like Kim Keon Hee’s defense counsel.”
Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party blamed the special counsel’s investigation for the relatively light sentence, which fell far short of the 15-year term the team had sought.
“Even with the largest‑ever investigation team and the longest investigation duration, spending more than 10 billion won of taxpayers’ money, the result is a sentence that makes a 15‑year term look embarrassing,” Rep. Lee Seong-kweun said.
Lee Jun‑seok, leader of the Reform Party, also criticized the ruling on Facebook,
“Today’s ruling has brought the facts about Myung Tae‑kyun fully into the open.” Lee said, “I explained the details of the Myung Tae‑kyun case from the start, but instead there was an odd situation in which I was attacked. Some progressive YouTubers pushed the narrative as if there was a problem.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM NA-HAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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