The Seoul Central District Court overturned a previous ruling on a man named Son, who had been acquitted of charges related to a 63.6 billion won investment fraud. Son was found guilty of aiding and abetting stock manipulation and received a suspended sentence. Additionally, suspicions arose regarding the involvement of first lady Kim Keon Hee and her mother Choi Eun-soon in the scheme, as their trust accounts reportedly yielded significant profits. Despite this, the public prosecution did not bring charges against Kim and Choi due to a lack of evidence, while the presidential office declined to comment on the matter. The Democratic Party has been pushing for a special counsel probe into the allegations surrounding Kim, including her potential connection to a pump-and-dump scheme, but their efforts have faced resistance. Furthermore, Kim recently avoided indictment for an alleged antigraft rule violation involving the receipt of luxury gifts, as the prosecution determined that a public official's spouse is not punishable under the current antigraft rule in Korea. The spy camera scheme, which implicated Kim in the receipt of gifts, did not result in charges, as an external panel also concluded that Kim was not punishable under the law. These developments have fueled ongoing debates and controversies surrounding the case, with the Democratic Party's calls for a special probe into the first lady's actions being met with opposition, including the rejection of a renewed special probe bill by National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-shik.