A South Korean appeals court has overturned former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conviction over unpaid opinion polls, ruling that prosecutors failed to establish that he and his wife had an agreement with political broker Myung Tae-kyun to receive the surveys in return for political assistance.
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday acquitted Yoon and Myung of violating the Political Funds Act, reversing a lower court ruling that had found them guilty over part of the alleged arrangement.
The case arose from allegations that Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, received customised public opinion polls from Myung without paying for them during the period before the 2022 presidential election.
Yoon was accused of working with Kim to obtain the polls on 58 occasions between June 2021 and March 2022. Prosecutors alleged that the surveys were provided in return for political favours, including the illegal nomination of a former People Power Party lawmaker during a parliamentary by-election later in 2022.
The appellate court, however, found insufficient evidence to show that the former presidential couple and Myung had reached an agreement concerning the preparation or free supply of the polls.
The judges said it was also difficult to prove criminal intent to provide or receive illegal political funds.
That finding differed from the lower court's conclusion that there had been a tacit understanding between Yoon, Kim and Myung.
At the first trial, Yoon was convicted over 14 of the polls after the court found that Myung had personally delivered the results to the couple. He was handed a two-year prison sentence, while Myung was sentenced to 18 months.
The lower court cleared the two of the remaining 44 polls because there was no conclusive proof of a mutual agreement. It also found that Myung's direct delivery of those surveys could not be established.
The independent counsel team led by Min Joong-ki had sought a four-year prison term for Yoon and three years for Myung as part of its case involving corruption allegations against Yoon and Kim.
The latest appellate decision follows similar rulings in Kim's case. She was acquitted of the same charges in both her first and second trials, although her case is still awaiting a final decision by the Supreme Court.
Yoon's acquittal in the opinion polls case does not end his legal troubles.
In February, he was sentenced to life in prison for insurrection arising from his declaration of martial law. He was later handed a 30-year prison sentence in June for general treason over the infiltration of drones into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Yoon declared emergency martial law on the night of December 3, 2024, but the order was withdrawn hours later after the National Assembly moved against it.
The Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment in April 2025, formally removing him from the presidency.
He had been indicted while in detention in January 2025 over allegations that he was the ringleader of the insurrection, becoming the first sitting president in South Korea to be arrested and indicted.