Special Prosecutor Adds "Aiding and Abetting in Deutsch Stock Manipulation" Charge to Kim Gunhee's Appeal Trial

Special Prosecutor Requests Indictment Amendment for Kim Gunhee's Trial
"Aiding and Abetting" Added as Alternative Charge
First Appellate Hearing Set for March 25

The special prosecutor team led by Min Junggi has requested the appellate court to consider applying the charge of "aiding and abetting" to First Lady Kim Gunhee in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, for which she was acquitted in the first trial.

Kim Gunhee, who was indicted and detained on charges including stock manipulation of Deutsche Motors, involvement in the nomination of Myung Taegyun, and allegations of solicitation and bribery related to the Unification Church, appeared at the final trial for violation of the Capital Markets Act held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on December 3, 2025. Photo by the Joint Press Corps

According to the legal community on March 18, the special prosecutor team filed a request the previous day with the Criminal Division 15-2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Shin Jongoh, Sung Eonju, and Won Ikseon), which is reviewing Mrs. Kim's alleged violations of the Capital Markets Act, seeking approval to amend the indictment.

A representative of the special prosecutor team explained, "Our basic position is that Mrs. Kim is a co-principal offender in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, but we have additionally included the charge of aiding and abetting as an alternative allegation." An alternative allegation refers to a supplementary charge presented by prosecutors in criminal proceedings, in case the primary allegation is not accepted.

Mrs. Kim was indicted in August last year on charges including participating in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation between October 2010 and December 2012 and gaining an illicit profit of approximately 810 million won.

In January, the first trial court acknowledged the charges that Mrs. Kim received a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace from the Unification Church in return for lobbying, but found her not guilty of participating in stock manipulation. The court recognized that Mrs. Kim had "conditional awareness" of the stock manipulation group's activities, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to consider her a "co-principal offender" who led the crime, and thus acquitted her.

The special prosecutor team determined that, since the charge of aiding and abetting was not considered in the first trial, it was necessary to present this charge at the appellate level and thus applied for amendment of the indictment.

The first appellate hearing for Mrs. Kim is scheduled for March 25.

Previously, in September 2024, Mr. Son, a so-called "front man" in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, was acquitted in the first trial but received a suspended prison sentence in the appellate trial after the prosecution's additional charge of aiding and abetting was accepted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.