Yoon Claims Innocence in Myung Taegyun Opinion Polls Appeal... "Opposite to Kim Keonhee Verdict"

Yoon: "Same Facts, Different Judgments"
Special Prosecutor: "Not Guilty Counts Should Also Be Considered Guilty... Sentence Must Be Increased"

The legal team of former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for allegations of receiving free opinion polls from political broker Myung Taegyun, argued for his innocence in the appeals court based on the acquittal verdict of his wife, Kim Keon-hee.

Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was indicted on charges of receiving opinion polls free of charge from political broker Myung Taekyun, is listening to the verdict at the first trial sentencing hearing held on the 13th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu. Photo by Yonhap News Agency provided by Seoul Central District Court

The Seventh Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Chief Judge Koo Hoe-geun, held the first hearing of the appellate trial on August 21 for the case in which former President Yoon and Mr. Myung are accused of violating the Political Funds Act.

Yoon's legal team argued, "The interpretation of the same text was completely opposite in the two previous trials of Mrs. Kim and in the lower court ruling for former President Yoon," and insisted, "The facts of this case and Mrs. Kim's case are entirely identical." They contended that the original verdict was based only on inference without direct evidence, and requested the court to overturn the conviction and declare him not guilty.

On the other hand, the special prosecutor team led by Min Jungki maintained that even the opinion polls for which the first court had found Yoon not guilty should be considered as part of the offense. The prosecutors stated, "If the not guilty portion is also recognized as guilty, the amount of illegal funds increases and the sentence should be heavier," while urging the court to find Yoon guilty on all charges.

During the hearing, the bench directly questioned former President Yoon about how he first met Mr. Myung and whether he had received the opinion poll results. Yoon explained that he came to know Mr. Myung through meetings with former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chair Kim Chongin and former Party Leader Lee Junseok, adding, "I have never met with Mr. Myung alone."

When asked if he remembered receiving opinion poll results via mobile phone, Yoon replied, "I received so many that I cannot remember," and stated, "Since we had sufficient funds, there was no reason to receive opinion polls for free."

Former President Yoon was indicted on charges of conspiring with Mrs. Kim to receive 58 free opinion polls worth about 270 million won from Mr. Myung between June 2021 and March 2022.

In the first trial, among these, 14 counts in which Mr. Myung directly provided the poll results to the couple were recognized as offenses, and Yoon was sentenced to two years in prison. For the remaining 44 counts, the court found that it was difficult to conclude they had been provided in collusion with the couple, and therefore ruled not guilty.

Mrs. Kim, who was indicted on the same charges, was acquitted in both the first and second trials and is currently awaiting the Supreme Court's decision. The court plans to continue the hearing on September 11 and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, close the arguments on that day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.