Supreme Court Upholds 5-Year Prison Sentence for "Geonjin Buddhist Priest" over Luxury Bribery Conviction

Geomancer Gun Jin Jeon Seongbae
Supreme Court Finalizes 5-Year Prison Sentence

Seongbae Jeon, the Geonjin Buddhist priest identified as the channel through which various requests were delivered to Mrs. Gunhee Kim, is entering the West Building of KT Gwanghwamun in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the special prosecution team led by Min Joong-gi has set up its office on August 18, 2025. Photo by Dongju Yoon

The so-called "Geonjin Buddhist priest," who flaunted his close relationship with President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife during the presidential campaign and was indicted on charges of accepting high-end luxury goods and cash under the pretext of various requests, has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The Supreme Court's Third Division, presided over by Justice Noh Kyung-pil, announced on July 9 that it had upheld the lower court's sentence of five years in prison and the confiscation of approximately 180 million won for Seongbae Jeon, who was convicted of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery for influence) and the Political Funds Act.

The Supreme Court found Jeon guilty of conspiring with Mrs. Gunhee Kim to receive expensive luxury goods from the Unification Church. According to the court, Jeon conspired to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the Unification Church on behalf of Mrs. Kim. Jeon was found to have received, on three occasions, luxury items such as two Chanel bags, Cheonsusam concentrated tea, and a Graff necklace, totaling 82.93 million won, from Yoon, the head of the Unification Church World Headquarters, along with requests related to the President's official duties, and delivered them to Mrs. Kim. The Supreme Court ruled that these luxury goods were not mere gifts but bribes in exchange for influence, and affirmed the lower court's finding that Jeon was a co-principal in the crime of bribery for influence.

In addition, Jeon was found guilty of receiving 30 million won in cash under the pretense of an advisory fee, along with requests to facilitate various Unification Church projects. He was also convicted of accepting approximately 45 million won from a businessman surnamed Park, purportedly for quashing a tax investigation and other favors, including office rental costs and a corporate credit card. Furthermore, he was found guilty of receiving about 167 million won through a lawyer close to him, as payment for inviting high-ranking government officials to an event organized by a theme park company.

This final ruling applied a sentence reduction pursuant to the so-called "Gunhee Kim Special Prosecutor Act." The first trial court had sentenced Jeon to six years in prison, but the appellate court recognized that Jeon had provided key testimony in the proceedings against Mrs. Kim that helped clarify the crimes. The appellate court determined that this constituted a "mandatory ground for sentence reduction" under the Special Prosecutor Act, reducing the sentence to five years, and the Supreme Court agreed with this decision.

Jeon was acquitted of charges of violating the Political Funds Act related to allegedly receiving 100 million won in cash from Park in exchange for securing a provincial council nomination during the local elections. The Supreme Court found no error in the lower court's ruling that Jeon could not be considered a person engaged in political activities as governed by the Political Funds Act, nor could the money he received be recognized as political funds.

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