The Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the 27th to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant requested by the special counsel team investigating Kim Keon-hee, led by Special Counsel Min Joong-ki.
According to legal sources on the 22nd, the Supreme Court's Second Division will review the arrest warrant for Kim at 2:30 p.m. on the 27th. She faces charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes through acceptance of money for mediation.
Kim's current detention period expires on the 31st. After the Supreme Court's full bench held a second deliberation session on her case on the 22nd, raising the possibility of her release, the special counsel team asked the court to issue an arrest warrant in connection with the so-called "selling of public posts" allegations. "As the detention period for defendant Kim Keon-hee approaches its expiration and there is a continued need to keep her in custody, we have submitted a request asking the court handling the case on violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes to issue an arrest warrant on its own authority," the team said on the 15th.
The Supreme Court assigned Kim's case to its Second Division that day and designated Justice Oh Kyung-mi as the presiding justice.
If no additional arrest warrant is issued, Kim will go through release procedures when her detention period expires at the end of this month.
Former President Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim each stood trial on charges of receiving 58 opinion polls worth a combined 270 million won free of charge from Myung Tae-kyun between June 2021 and March 2022. Kim was acquitted of those charges in both the first and second trials.
The Supreme Court had initially planned to rule on July 16 this year but postponed the decision after Yoon, indicted on the same charges, was convicted in his first trial, unlike Kim. When Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon — indicted on charges of receiving opinion polls from Myung and having a donor cover the costs — was also convicted in his first trial that same month, the Supreme Court referred Kim's case to the full bench. The full bench held its second review of the three major allegations against Kim that day, following an earlier session on the 29th of last month.
The central issue in the full bench case is whether the opinion poll results that Kim received, together with former President Yoon, from political broker Myung Tae-kyun constitute a political funding donation prohibited under the Political Funds Act.