The special prosecutor's team, led by Min Jung-ki, has requested the Supreme Court to postpone the ruling date for Kim Geon-hee's appeal, originally scheduled for July 16. This request follows the guilty verdict against former President Yoon Suk Yeol for violations of the political fund law, which the team wants to be considered in Kim's case.
According to legal sources on July 14, the special prosecutor's team submitted a motion to the Supreme Court to delay the ruling date. The Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Park Young-jae, was set to announce its decision on Kim's appeal regarding the three major allegations: stock price manipulation involving Deutsche Motors, receiving money from the Unification Church, and the free provision of opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun.
In a public statement, the special prosecutor's team explained, "We are requesting a delay to submit additional opinions reflecting the verdict in the case against former President Yoon."
Previously, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33, led by Judge Lee Jin-gwan, sentenced former President Yoon to two years in prison for violations of the political fund law on July 13. Yoon and his wife were indicted by the special prosecutor for allegedly receiving over 270 million won worth of opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun for free between June 2021 and March 2022, ahead of the presidential election.
The court found Yoon guilty of implicitly agreeing to receive the results of 14 polls (valued at approximately 27.29 million won) that were confirmed to have been delivered.
Notably, the court recognized that Kim delegated the polling method to Myung and that Yoon received the results, implicitly agreeing to the arrangement, thus acknowledging a tacit understanding among the couple and Myung.
This ruling contrasts sharply with the lower court's decisions regarding Kim, which previously stated that Myung's opinion polls were a type of "bait product" to secure paid contracts, leading to a not guilty verdict on those charges.
However, Kim was found guilty on some charges related to her involvement in the stock price manipulation of Deutsche Motors and receiving money from the Unification Church, resulting in a four-year prison sentence and a fine of 50 million won in the second trial.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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