Ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol acquitted on appeal over free polls from political broker

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was acquitted on appeal Wednesday of illegally receiving free polling results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun, overturning his conviction and two-year prison sentence.

The Seoul High Court also acquitted Myung of violating the Political Funds Act, finding insufficient evidence that he and the former presidential couple agreed to the provision of free polls.

“There is no evidence whatsoever that there was a meeting of minds among Yoon, his wife and Myung regarding a request or agreement to conduct or provide the opinion polls free of charge,” the court said.

It also found insufficient evidence that Yoon had intended to receive an illegal political contribution.

The appeals court found that Myung provided the polling results on his own initiative to demonstrate his value and influence, rather than under an agreement with Yoon and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Although the couple may have gained a political advantage from receiving the results, the court said this did not establish that they had obtained a financial benefit equivalent to the cost of conducting the polls.

Yoon was indicted on charges of conspiring with Kim to receive results from 58 opinion polls worth a combined 270 million won ($202,000) from Myung, free of charge, between June 2021 and March 2022.

In July, the lower court found an implicit agreement concerning the commissioning and provision of the polls. It convicted Yoon over 14 polls whose results Myung had personally delivered to the couple, sentencing him to two years in prison and Myung to 18 months.

The lower court acquitted them for the remaining 44 polls, finding insufficient evidence that the results, which Myung had not directly delivered, had been provided under an agreement.

Wednesday’s ruling aligned with Kim’s separate trial and appeal, in which she was acquitted of the polling-related Political Funds Act charge.

The courts in Kim’s case found that Myung had provided the results unilaterally, without a prior request or agreement, to promote his polling firm or expand his political influence.