▲ Kim Keon-hee
The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki has requested that the Supreme Court postpone the final sentencing hearing for Kim Keon-hee, spouse of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, which was scheduled for the day after tomorrow (July 16). Kim is facing charges related to the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, the receipt of illicit funds from the Unification Church, and the receipt of opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun.
The request is based on the need to review the first-instance ruling delivered yesterday (July 13), in which former President Yoon, a co-defendant in the case regarding the receipt of opinion polls from Myung, was found guilty.
The special counsel team submitted the application for the postponement of the Supreme Court sentencing to the Second Division of the Supreme Court (Justice Park Young-jae presiding) today (July 14).
The sentencing was originally scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on July 16.
The special counsel team explained, "We submitted the request for postponement to file an additional opinion reflecting the contents of the ruling on former President Yoon Suk-yeol's violation of the Political Funds Act, which was delivered yesterday."
Former President Yoon and Kim Keon-hee have been on trial on charges of receiving 58 opinion polls worth approximately 270 million won from political broker Myung Tae-kyun between June 2021 and March 2022 without payment.
Yesterday, the 33rd Criminal Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-kwan) found former President Yoon guilty of receiving 14 of those opinion polls and sentenced him to two years in prison.
This conclusion is the exact opposite of the lower court's judgment regarding Kim Keon-hee's case.
The 33rd Criminal Agreement Division determined that there was an implicit agreement among former President Yoon, Kim Keon-hee, and Myung regarding the provision of free opinion polls.
The court cited text messages exchanged between Kim Keon-hee and Myung as key evidence supporting the prior mutual understanding.
Previously, the first and second-instance courts for Kim Keon-hee's case had acquitted her of those charges, ruling that Myung did not conduct the opinion polls at the request of or in consultation with the former president and his spouse.
However, Kim was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won in the second instance after being found guilty of some charges related to her involvement in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and the receipt of funds from the Unification Church.
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