SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- A South Korean appellate court on Wednesday acquitted former President Yoon Suk-yeol of charges that he received free opinion polls from a political broker in violation of the Political Funds Act.
The Seoul High Court overturned a lower court's partial guilty ruling, clearing both Yoon and self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun of charges that Yoon illegally accepted free public opinion polls from Myung in exchange for political favors.
The team of Min Joong-ki, an independent counsel who led an investigation into corruption allegations involving Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, sought a four-year prison sentence for Yoon and a three-year sentence for Myung.
The appellate bench stated that there was no evidence of an agreement between the Yoons and Myung about the conduct or free provision of public opinion polls, saying that it was difficult to establish criminal intent to donate illegal political funds.
It directly contradicted the lower court's finding, which ruled that there was a tacit agreement between the former first couple and Myung.
Yoon was accused of conspiring with his wife to receive customized opinion polls free of charge from the political broker on 58 occasions from June 2021 to March 2022, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, in exchange for the illegal nomination of a former People Power Party lawmaker in a parliamentary by-election later that year.
In the initial trial, the lower court found Yoon guilty of receiving 14 of the polls, where Myung directly delivered the results to the couple, sentencing Yoon to two years in prison and Myung to 18 months.
The lower court acquitted them of the remaining 44 polls due to the lack of definitive proof of a mutual agreement, given that Myung's direct delivery could not be established.
The appellate court's verdict on Yoon aligned with the previous rulings for his wife, who was acquitted of the same charges in both her first and second trials.
Kim's case was currently pending a final decision by the Supreme Court.
Yoon was sentenced to life in prison in February for the insurrection stemming from his martial law declaration and 30 years in prison in June for the general treason relevant to the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The emergency martial law was declared by Yoon on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, but it was revoked hours later by the National Assembly.
The constitutional court upheld a motion to impeach Yoon in April 2025, officially removing him from office.
He was indicted under detention in January 2025 as a suspected ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president to be arrested and indicted. ■