[Anchor]
The appellate court has overturned a lower court's guilty verdict against former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the Myung Tae-kyun opinion poll controversy, acquitting him. Attention is now focused on how today's (October 7) ruling will impact the ongoing trials of Kim Keon-hee and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who face similar allegations.
Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the details.
[Reporter]
[Koo Hoi-geun, Senior Judge, 7th Criminal Division, Seoul High Court: The lower court's ruling is vacated. The defendants are each acquitted.]
The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court overturned the lower court's sentence of two years in prison and acquitted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had been indicted on charges of receiving opinion poll results free of charge from Myung Tae-kyun.
The court ruled that the poll results handed over to former President Yoon by Myung were merely a means for political advice.
[Koo Hoi-geun, Senior Judge, 7th Criminal Division, Seoul High Court: While it may be seen as a political benefit, it is not of a nature that can be converted into a property-based benefit, making it difficult to view as a political fund contribution under the Political Funds Act.]
The court also did not recognize any intent to contribute political funds.
It stated that there is no direct evidence of a meeting of the minds, such as a request or agreement, between Myung and former President Yoon and his spouse.
Interest is also gathering on how this appellate ruling, which delivered an acquittal unlike the first trial, will affect the trials of Kim Keon-hee and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon regarding the Myung Tae-kyun opinion polls.
Kim Keon-hee was acquitted in both the first and second trials and is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling, while Mayor Oh, who faces charges of having his poll costs paid by others, received a sentence in the first trial that would strip him of his mayoral position and is awaiting his appellate ruling scheduled for October 23.
Mayor Oh's legal team submitted a phone recording as new evidence to the court, carrying the intent that "Oh Se-hoon knows nothing about the opinion polls." Meanwhile, Myung, who was acquitted today, maintained a sharp stance.
[Myung Tae-kyun: If you look through the statements Mayor Oh Se-hoon has made over the past two years or so, I think you will be able to tell whose statements are lies and whose are the truth.]
Final judgments on those implicated in the so-called Myung Tae-kyun opinion poll case are expected to be settled by the Supreme Court going forward.
(Photo: Yang Hyun-chul | Video Editing: So Ji-hye)
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