[Anchor]

With four days left until the expiration of Kim Keonhee's detention period, the Supreme Court held a hearing today (27th) to decide whether to issue an additional arrest warrant requested by the special counsel on the 15th. If an additional arrest warrant is not issued, Kim is likely to be released at midnight on the 31st.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Kim Keonhee has been on trial in detention since she was indicted last August over three major allegations: the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation, the Unification Church bribery, and the Myeong Tae-gyun opinion polls.

The Supreme Court full bench is currently reviewing the final appeal regarding these three major allegations, and Kim's detention period related to these cases is set to expire on the 31st.

However, as the possibility grew that Kim would be released before a final ruling on the three major allegations is pronounced, the special counsel requested the Second Division of the Supreme Court—which is handling a separate trial regarding vote-buying allegations—to issue an additional arrest warrant sua sponte on the 15th.

This is because issuing an additional arrest warrant in connection with the separate vote-buying allegations would allow Kim's detention to continue.

Accordingly, the Second Division of the Supreme Court held a hearing for about 40 minutes starting at 2:30 p.m. today to decide whether to issue the additional arrest warrant.

During the hearing, both sides engaged in a legal battle over whether the additional detention was necessary.

[Choe Myung-sung / Kim Keonhee's Attorney : We thoroughly explained that there are no grounds for detention and that it is unfair because it constitutes detention on a separate case.]

[Kim Han-su / Assistant Special Counsel for the Kim Keonhee Special Counsel Team : We argued by examining whether there are grounds for detention prescribed by law and stated that those grounds are sufficient.]

Kim did not appear in person at the Supreme Court but participated via video link from the Seoul Southern Detention Center where she is imprisoned. She reportedly stated, "My health condition is very poor, and I hope I can be released to receive treatment."

The decision on whether to issue an additional arrest warrant for Kim Keonhee is expected to be reached as early as this evening.

(Camera Reporter : Yang Hyun-chul | Video Editor : Kim Jun-hee)