Yoon acquitted as appeals court rules free polls were not political funds

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was acquitted on appeal on Wednesday on charges of receiving free opinion polls in the lead-up to the 2022 presidential election from political broker Myung Tae-kyun. The ruling overturns a prison sentence handed down by a lower court.

The Seoul High Court ruled that the polls Myung provided to Yoon and former first lady Kim Keon Hee did not constitute a financial benefit under the Political Funds Act.

Yoon is accused of colluding with his wife to receive opinion polls worth a total of 270 million won ($202,000) for free from Myung on 58 occasions between June 2021 and March 2022.

Myung, who had been sentenced to 18 months in prison for providing illegal political funds, was also acquitted on appeal.

Yoon smiled toward the gallery after the ruling was announced.

The appeals court rejected the lower court’s finding that all 58 polls Myung provided free of charge — 36 for public release and 22 private polls — amounted to illegal political contributions.

A violation of the Political Funds Act requires a financial benefit that can be converted into monetary value. The court found that Myung had provided political assistance rather than a financial benefit.

“Myung’s opinion polls were merely one of several tools used to provide political advice,” the court said. “They may be viewed as a political benefit, but not a financial benefit, so it is difficult to regard them as a political contribution under the Political Funds Act.”

The court drew a clear line between political help and financial gain.

“What Yoon and his wife received from Myung appears to have been political advice, including information on public opinion trends, as well as assistance through introductions to influential political figures such as Kim Chong-in, former interim leader of the [main opposition] People Power Party [PPP], and Lee Jun-seok, who was PPP leader at the time,” the court said.

The court also addressed why Myung may have offered that help.

“Myung appears to have had personal motivations [for providing such political assistance],” the court said. “He came from Changwon [in South Gyeongsang] to Seoul and sought recognition of his own value, greater influence and acknowledgment of his contributions through relationships with and assistance to prominent political figures.”

Implicit poll deal findings rejected

The appeals court also overturned the lower court’s finding that Myung and the former first couple had an implicit agreement over the provision of the polls.

The lower court had pointed to meetings between Myung and the couple at the couple’s residence at the Acrovista apartment complex in Seocho District, southern Seoul to infer that such an agreement existed. It also ruled that 14 polls Myung sent directly to Yoon and his wife constituted illegal political contributions.

However, the appeals court found differently.

“There is no evidence that Myung and Yoon and his wife reached any agreement, whether through a request or consultation, for the polls to be conducted or provided free of charge,” the appeals court said. “That makes it difficult to conclude that there was any intent to make an illegal political contribution.”

A separate appeals court handling the case against the former first lady on the same allegations had also acquitted her and ruled that the polls “could not be presumed to have been conducted based on an agreement or request.”

Special counsel vows appeal

“This ruling reaffirms the principle that criminal allegations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt through hard evidence, not speculation or mere possibility,” Yoon’s legal team said in a statement after the ruling.

The special counsel team expressed disagreement.

“The ruling is difficult for us to accept,” said the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, which is investigating former first lady Kim. “We will do our utmost to obtain a ruling that reflects the facts of the case through an appeal to the Supreme Court.”

The special counsel had sought four years in prison for Yoon and three years for Myung at the final hearing.

Oh Se-hoon polling case set for Oct. 23

The case involves issues similar to those in the case involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and allegations that a supporter paid polling costs on Oh’s behalf.

Oh was indicted on charges that he received the results of 10 polls from Myung ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and had 33 million won in costs paid by his supporter and businessperson, Kim Han-jung.

Both cases involve allegations that Myung provided opinion polls, but the specific facts at issue differ.

In the former president’s case, the key issue is whether the polls Myung provided constituted a financial benefit. In Oh’s case, the dispute centers on whether Oh commissioned the polls and whether he knew that Kim had paid 33 million won on his behalf.

The lower court found that Oh had instructed that some of the polling costs be paid on his behalf and fined him 10 million won in July.

Myung testified during the trial that Oh had commissioned the polls, and the lower court found parts of Myung’s testimony credible.

Oh’s legal team submitted a recording at the appeals trial on Friday in which Myung says, “Oh Se-hoon doesn’t know,” and argued that Oh had never asked anyone to pay the polling costs on his behalf.

The same Seoul High Court panel that acquitted Yoon is scheduled to deliver its appeals ruling in Oh’s case on Oct. 23.

BY JO SU-BIN, CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]