The special counsel team on July 14 asked the Supreme Court to postpone its ruling on Kim Keon-hee. According to Kyunghyang Shinmun and Newspim, the team said it would file a supplementary brief reflecting the previous day's guilty verdict against former President Yoon Suk-yeol over Myung Tae-kyun's unpaid polling.

Same issue, opposite verdicts

The court's second division had been set to rule on charges including Capital Markets Act violations (Deutsch Motors stock manipulation), Political Funds Act violations (unpaid polling) and brokerage under the aggravated punishment act (Unification Church lobbying). Kim was acquitted of the polling charge in both lower courts.

Yoon, by contrast, was sentenced to two years in prison at first instance for receiving the same polls. With largely overlapping facts producing opposite outcomes, the counsel argues the top court must weigh both records together.

Timing now up to the court

If the request is granted, the ruling slips to next week or later. Some lawyers see Yoon's judgment as a real variable in whether the case is remanded; others expect the court to rule as scheduled since deliberations have closed.

The case unfolds in an unprecedented moment, with a former presidential couple simultaneously on criminal trial. The outcome will shape the probe's next phase and the political battlefield.