Seoul (South Korea), July 13 : A Seoul court on Monday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison for violating the Political Funds Act, reported Yonhap.
The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of illegally receiving free opinion polling services worth 270 million won (US$180,100) from political broker Myung Tae-kyun during his 2021-2022 campaign.
Prosecutors said Yoon got 14 customised surveys in exchange for using his influence to help Myung's associate, former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, secure a People Power Party nomination.
Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan said free polls "directly impact the fairness of elections." Myung was also sentenced to 1 year and 6 months and taken into custody.
The ruling adds to Yoon's other convictions, including a finalised 7-year term last week for obstructing investigators, a life term for insurrection, and a 30-year term for treason.
In its ruling, the court ordered a forfeiture of 13.96 million won. It recognised the special counsel team's argument that Yoon had promised to support Former South Korean lawmaker Kim Young-sun's nomination as a candidate for the conservative People Power Party in the parliamentary by-elections in June 2022 in exchange for the opinion polls, as per Yonhap.
The special counsel team had sought a four-year prison sentence for Yoon and a three-year term for Myung.
As per Yonhap, the ruling diverged from an appellate court's acquittal of Yoon's wife on charges of accepting free opinion polls from Myung in a separate trial.
In Kim's acquittal in April, the Seoul High Court ruled the couple could not be seen as profiting off the opinion polls as Myung had provided them to other people as well. Min's team has appealed that ruling.
It marked the latest conviction for Yoon, who has been standing multiple trials following his failed 2024 martial law bid. In February, Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection through his short-lived imposition of martial law, as per Yonhap.