The top court said it had decided to refer Kim's case to the full bench and postpone the ruling scheduled for 2 p.m. No new date has been set.
The move is widely seen as aimed at resolving conflicting lower court rulings over allegations involving self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun, who allegedly provided opinion polls to Kim and former President Yoon Suk Yeol free of charge, in what prosecutors allege constituted illegal political funding.
A full-bench review is typically reserved for cases involving significant legal questions or the need to unify judicial interpretations.
Kim and her husband, ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, allegedly received opinion polls worth about 270 million won (US$180,000) free of charge from Myung between June 2021 and March 2022.
She also faces several other charges including allegations of involvement in the Deutsche Motors' stock manipulation scheme and acceptance of luxury handbags and jewelry in exchange for favors from the Unification Church, a secretive religious sect better known as the Moonies.
In the first trial in January, Kim was sentenced to 20 months in prison after being found guilty of some bribery-related charges. About three months later, an appellate court increased her sentence to four years in prison and fined her 50 million won, though she was still found not guilty of the poll-related charges in both her first and second trials, a finding that ran counter to Yoon's lower-court sentencing on the same charge.
Thursday's referral came about 10 days after the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon to two years in prison after finding him guilty of receiving free opinion polls from Myung, a ruling that contradicted the lower court rulings in Kim's case clearing her of the same allegations.
It also came just a day after the same court fined Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon 10 million won for receiving similar opinion polls from Myung ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election and allegedly having his supporter cover the costs.
Legal observers said the top court's decision to convene the full bench appears intended to establish a consistent legal framework after lower courts reached conflicting conclusions in related cases.
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