Three days to Yoon's first Supreme Court ruling — Kim Keon Hee's stock manipulation case also heads to final appeal this month

The Supreme Court appeal phase for cases brought by special prosecutor teams formed in the wake of the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration has begun in earnest. This week, former President Yoon Suk Yeol — who declared the martial law and now faces a total of eight criminal trials — will receive his first ruling from the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Division 3, presided over by Justice Lee Suk-yeon, is scheduled to deliver its ruling Thursday at 2 p.m. in Courtroom No. 1 on charges against Yoon including obstruction of official duties and abuse of authority. The ruling comes 583 days — one year and seven months — after the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration and marks the Supreme Court's first judgment on Yoon. The court assigned the case to Division 3 on May 20 and has been deliberating since. Division 3 currently comprises Justices Lee Heung-gu, Oh Seok-jun, Noh Gyeong-pil and Lee Suk-yeon.

Yoon is accused of mobilizing the Presidential Security Service last year to block the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials from executing an arrest warrant against him. He also faces charges of convening a Cabinet meeting before the martial law declaration with only some ministers present, obstructing the remaining ministers from exercising their constitutional right to deliberate on the measure. Additional charges include fabricating and then destroying the martial law proclamation after it was lifted, deleting encrypted phone records belonging to military commanders who participated in the martial law — including former Defense Counterintelligence Command chief Yeo In-hyeong — and spreading false information about the martial law to foreign media outlets.

The first-instance court sentenced Yoon to five years in prison in January. The second-instance court increased the sentence to seven years, finding him guilty on counts the first court had acquitted him of. The appeals court also found that the deliberation rights of two Cabinet ministers who received meeting notices at a time when they could not attend had been violated — expanding on the first court's finding, which recognized only the infringement of rights of seven ministers who received no notice at all. The appeals court further convicted Yoon on the charge of disseminating false information to foreign media, reversing the first court's acquittal on that count. The insurrection special prosecutor team, led by Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok, had sought a 10-year sentence at both the first and second trials.

Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon, is also likely to receive her first Supreme Court ruling this month. Supreme Court Division 2, presided over by Justice Park Young-jae, is deliberating on charges against Kim — including stock price manipulation involving Deutsch Motors and receipt of gifts linked to the Unification Church — brought by the Kim Keon Hee special prosecutor team led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki. Division 2 comprises Justices Oh Gyeong-mi, Kwon Young-jun, Eom Sang-pil and Park Young-jae.

The special prosecutor act stipulates that a Supreme Court ruling must be delivered within three months of the second-instance sentencing date — a provision known as the "6-3-3 principle." Kim was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won ($32,200) at her second trial on April 28. The appeals court also ordered the confiscation of a Graf diamond necklace valued at 62.2 million won and an additional surcharge of 20.94 million won.

On Thursday, when Division 3 hears Yoon's obstruction case, it is also scheduled to rule on the appeals of Yoon Young-ho, a former head of the Unification Church's global headquarters accused of providing gifts to Kim while lobbying her on church matters, and Jeon Seong-bae, a Buddhist monk known as Geonjin Beopsa, accused of conspiring with Kim to receive gifts from the church. Both were indicted by the Kim Keon Hee special prosecutor team; Yoon was sentenced to one year and six months in prison and Jeon to five years.

Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, both indicted by the insurrection special prosecutor team on charges including participation in key roles in the Dec. 3 emergency martial law insurrection, also await Supreme Court rulings. Han was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Lee to nine years at their respective second trials.