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Supreme Court Upholds Suspended Sentence for Ex-Prosecutor in Bribery Case Involving Former First Lady

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South Korea's Supreme Court confirmed a suspended prison term for former prosecutor Kim Sang-min for bribing former first lady Kim Keon Hee with a 140 million-won painting by artist Lee Ufan in 2023.
The bribe sought her support for his 2024 election nomination, and he also faced illegal political donation charges.

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The Supreme Court confirmed a suspended prison term for former prosecutor Kim Sang-min, who was convicted of bribing former first lady Kim Keon Hee with a 140 million-won painting in exchange for her support in his 2024 election bid. He was also charged with illegal political donations.

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SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a suspended prison term for a former prosecutor for bribing former first lady Kim Keon Hee in exchange for her help in his bid to run in an election.

The top court upheld an appellate ruling that convicted Kim Sang-min on charges that included gifting a 140 million-won (US$95,400) painting by renowned artist Lee Ufan to the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2023.

The former prosecutor was indicted on charges of violating the anti-graft law for giving the painting to the then first lady in return for her support for his bid to win a nomination for the 2024 general elections.

He was also charged with violating the Political Funds Act for receiving illegal political donations of over 41 million won in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.

The Seoul High Court found the former prosecutor guilty on both charges, sentencing him to two years in prison suspended for three years for the graft charge and to a one-year term suspended for three years for the other charge.

The top court said it did not find errors with the ruling.

A Seoul district court sentenced the former first lady to seven years in prison last month on charges that included her acceptance of the painting from the former prosecutor.