SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean appeals court on Tuesday 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 favors.
The Seoul High Court threw out some of the corruption charges against Kim Keon Hee, including one involving a luxury watch from businessman Seo Seong-bin 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 on Tuesday said the prosecutors had not sufficiently proved that the watch was provided in exchange for business favors. The court upheld most of her other convictions.
Kim’s legal team said in a statement they would appeal to the Supreme Court to get the remaining charges overturned, arguing that prosecutors had failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The prosecution would also 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.
The latest ruling came after the high court — in a separate case in April — sentenced Kim Keon Hee to four years over charges that she accepted gifts from the Unification Church and profited from a stock price manipulation scheme.
She has separately appealed that sentence.
Among Kim’s convictions upheld on Tuesday was one for receiving a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and other jewelry items worth more than 100 million won ($73,500) in all in 2022 from Seohee Construction Chairman Lee Bong-kwan in exchange for securing a government post for Lee’s son-in-law.
Kim was also convicted of accepting a Dior handbag and other gifts from Pastor Choi Jae-yong, who sought to join a civilian diplomatic delegation and other government-funded programs; a gold turtle from former National Education Commission chief Lee Bae-yong, who had lobbied for that job; and a 140 million won ($102,900) painting by famed artist Lee Ufan from former senior prosecutor Kim Sang-min, who sought a nomination by Yoon’s conservative party for the 2024 legislative elections.
Yoon was removed from office in April 2025, months after he was impeached over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024 following a standoff with the liberal opposition. Arrested in July 2025, the former conservative leader is standing trial in multiple cases and has appealed a life sentence for rebellion.
Liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won an early presidential election last year to replace Yoon, has authorized multiple investigations by special prosecutors into Yoon’s martial law imposition and other allegations involving his government and wife.
FILE - South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee, wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review her arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors, in Seoul, South Korea, on Aug. 12, 2025. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces a double test on the world stage Tuesday when he meets U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time and addresses the United Nations General Assembly.
It’s a baptism of fire for the neophyte leader, who has gone from mayor of the northwest England city of Manchester to leader of a G7 country in a matter of weeks.
He will urge Trump to step up U.S. support for Ukraine and hopes to avoid U.S. criticism of the U.K.’s decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
He also will try to send a message that Britain can play a key role in solving the world’s biggest challenges, from conflict in the Middle East to the dizzying evolution of artificial intelligence. And he will attempt to turn the page on a decade of Brexit-driven discord with the U.K.’s European neighbors.
As he flew to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders, Burnham announced he had authorized limited military support for Saudi Arabia to repel attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. A Royal Air Force plane will refuel Saudi jets engaged in “defensive” action to shoot down Houthi missiles, he said.
Burnham said he would raise with Trump ways to end the on-off war between the U.S. and Iran, which has choked off oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz and sent global fuel prices soaring. Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure are making the problem worse while rendering Burnham’s pledge to ease cost of living pressure for British voters even harder.
“We want to see an end to the conflict as quickly as possible and we stand ready to play our part,” Burnham said.
He also will urge the U.S. president to provide air-defense missiles to Ukraine ahead of another winter of Russian attacks.
Burnham told reporters he would try to find “common ground” with Trump, who has called the center-left U.K. leader “a nice guy” but “unfortunately” a liberal.
The prime minister said he and Trump had “found a connection” in two phone calls since Burnham took office in July.
Burnham plans to strike a note of “hope” in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday evening, despite warning the world faces “dark clouds of instability.”
Burnham said he would focus on AI, arguing it’s possible to be “clear-eyed” about both the benefits and risks of the technology. He will argue the U.K. is well placed to be an “honest broker” in seeking global agreement to guide its development, because London has good relations with both the U.S. and Europe and “a strong dialogue” with China.
He also will say Britain is moving on from the tumultuous decade since the U.K.’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. He suggested Brexit was a point at which the country took a wrong turn, fueled by misinformation.
The policy of Burnham's Labour Party government is to seek closer relations with the EU without reversing the decision to leave the now 27-nation bloc. Burnham hinted that he could go further at the next national election, which is due by 2029.
He told reporters that in the past decade, Britain had experienced “the turbulence that comes when outside actors seek to manipulate, distort facts, influence the British democratic process.”
“Going into the next decade we need to be clear-eyed about that and stronger and more on the front foot about challenging that,” he said.
“We can be hopeful about where we’re going,” Burnham added. “We can draw a line under the last decade and say, ‘This next one’s going to be different.’”
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife Marie-France van Heel board a plane for the United States, at Stansted Airport, Stansted, England, Monday Sept. 21, 2026, to attend the UN General Assembly in New York. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife Marie-France van Heel board a plane for the United States, at Stansted Airport, Stansted, England, Monday Sept. 21, 2026, to attend the UN General Assembly in New York. (Toby Melville/Pool Photo via AP)
