▲ Rep. Kim Gi-hyun of the People Power Party and his wife, who are on trial for allegedly gifting a luxury Roger Vivier bag valued at around 2.6 million won to Kim Keon-hee, arrive at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for a resumed trial on July 13. (Photo: Yonhap News)
The first-instance ruling will be delivered today (the 30th) for People Power Party Representative Kim Gi-hyun and his wife, who were put on trial on charges of gifting a luxury bag to Kim Keon-hee in exchange for support in the party leadership election.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Settlement Division 22 (Presiding Judge Cho Hyung-woo) will hold the first-instance sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. today for Rep. Kim and his wife, who face charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
Previously, during the sentencing hearing held last month, the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki demanded a one-year prison sentence for Rep. Kim and a six-month prison sentence for his spouse.
Rep. Kim's side has consistently maintained that while his spouse did give the bag as a gift to Kim Keon-hee, it was merely a matter of social courtesy and entirely unrelated to Rep. Kim himself.
In his final statement, Rep. Kim said, "I am sorry for causing concern to the public over this matter," while emphasizing, "In over 20 years of political life, I have never once been involved in corruption."
Rep. Kim and his wife were indicted on charges of handing over a Roger Vivier clutch bag worth 2.67 million won to Kim Keon-hee in return for mobilizing Unification Church members to support the People Power Party leadership election.
Investigations showed that Rep. Kim was elected party leader on March 8, 2023, and his spouse delivered the bag on March 17 of the same year.
The payment for the item was withdrawn from Rep. Kim's lawmaker salary account.
The special counsel team concluded that the couple gifted the bag in connection with presidential duties, thereby applying charges under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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