Appellate Ruling for Former President Yoon Suk Yeol in 'Myung Tae-kyun Poll' Case Today; Sentenced to 2 Years in First Trial

The appellate court ruling for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to two years in prison in the first trial on charges of receiving free public opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun, will be delivered today (October 7).

Seoul High Court Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judge Gu Hoe-keun) will hold the appellate sentencing hearing for former President Yoon and Myung on October 7.

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sent to trial on charges of conspiring with his spouse, Keonhee, to receive 58 free public opinion polls from Myung between June 2021 and March 2022.

The first trial recognized 14 of the polls in the indictment as having been received for free, sentencing former President Yoon to two years in prison and ordering the forfeiture of approximately 13.96 million won.

Myung, who was indicted on charges of providing free public opinion polls to the former President Yoon couple, was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.

The first trial concluded that there was an implicit "consensus" between the Yoon couple and Myung regarding the execution and provision of public opinion polls, and that even if not promised in advance, former President Yoon exercised influence to secure the nomination of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun as a form of reward.

However, the court judged that the remaining 44 polls could not be conclusively determined to have been provided under an agreement with the Yoon couple because Myung did not deliver them directly.

On the other hand, the trial court for Keonhee, who was indicted on the same charges, acquitted her by judging that Myung unilaterally provided the polls without prior request or consultation for the purpose of business activities or expanding his political influence through Future Korea Research, the polling agency he operated.

As conflicting judgments have emerged over the same matter, attention is focused on what conclusion today's appellate court will reach.
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.