A court reduced the prison sentence of the wife of ousted president Yoon Suk-yeol from seven to five years, following her initial conviction of accepting luxury gifts from businesspeople and others seeking political and business favours.
The Seoul High Court threw out some of the corruption charges against Kim Keon-hee, including one involving a luxury watch from a businessman who allegedly sought government support for his robotic dogs business.
In June, the Seoul Central District Court found Kim guilty of accepting the watch, but the high court yesterday said the prosecutors had not sufficiently proved that the watch was provided in exchange for business favours.
The court upheld most of her other convictions.
The prosecution said it would appeal, according to Kim Han-soo, a member of an investigation team led by special prosecutor Min Joong-ki.
“It’s difficult to accept that a first lady’s acceptance of a watch worth tens of millions of won from a businessman with pending business matters does not constitute a crime,” he told reporters. — AP
