The Supreme Court has unexpectedly postponed the verdict date for Kim Geon-hee's case involving stock manipulation related to Deutsche Motors.
On July 15, the Supreme Court's second division, led by Justice Park Young-jae, announced that the verdict for Kim's violations of the Capital Markets Act, political funding laws, and specific criminal law regarding bribery will now take place on July 24 at 2 p.m. The verdict was originally scheduled for July 16 at 10:15 a.m.
This decision follows a request from the special prosecutor's team, led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki, to review the first-instance ruling that found former President Yoon Suk Yeol guilty in connection with the polling allegations involving political broker Myung Tae-kyun.
The special prosecutor's office asked the Supreme Court to delay Kim's verdict by at least a month to allow for a thorough examination of the first-instance ruling regarding Yoon's case, which they argued is closely related.
The request for a postponement was prompted by the fact that while Kim was acquitted in a lower court, Yoon received a guilty verdict.
On July 13, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 33, presided over by Judge Lee Jin-kwan, sentenced Yoon to two years in prison for violating political funding laws.
Yoon and his wife were indicted by the special prosecutor for allegedly receiving approximately 270 million won worth of polling services from Myung between June 2021 and March 2022, just before the presidential election.
The court found that 14 instances of polling results, valued at 27.29 million won, were delivered, ruling that there was an "implicit agreement for free provision" of these services. The court acknowledged that Kim delegated the polling methods to Myung, and Yoon received the results, implicitly agreeing to the arrangement, thus recognizing a tacit agreement among the couple and Myung.
This ruling contrasts sharply with the lower court's decision regarding Kim, which found that Myung's polling was a type of "bait product" intended to secure paid contracts, leading to her acquittal.
In its request for a delay, the special prosecutor's office stated, "The first-instance ruling on former President Yoon's violation of political funding laws presents a judgment that is fundamentally at odds with the original ruling in this case on multiple issues. It is necessary for the same conclusion to be reached regarding related cases."
They emphasized that a careful review and sufficient deliberation regarding the related case's ruling are essential before proceeding with Kim's verdict.
However, Kim has already been found guilty of some charges related to stock manipulation and receiving funds 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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