Kim Keon Hee special counsel appeals second-trial acquittal of Yoon over ‘free opinion polls from Myung Tae-gyun’

[Financial News] The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Team (Special Counsel Min Joung-kie) appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging an appellate ruling that acquitted former President Yoon Suk Yeol of violating the Political Funds Act in connection with free opinion polls from Myung Tae-gyun.
The special counsel team said in a notice to the media on the 13th that it had filed a notice of appeal that day with the Seoul High Court, which heard the case against former President Yoon.
The special counsel team took issue with the appellate panel’s finding that there had been agreement between former President Yoon and his wife and political broker Myung Tae-gyun only on “overall assistance during the election process, such as political advice,” excluding the provision of opinion polls. The team also said it was difficult to accept the ruling that did not recognize a conspiracy between former President Yoon and Kim Keon Hee.
The special counsel team said, “The appellate court’s ruling is difficult to accept in light of ordinary rules of experience.”
The team plans to submit its brief setting out the specific grounds for appeal as soon as possible. Since the case against Mrs. Kim, who is being tried on the same charges, has been referred to the Supreme Court Grand Bench, the team also plans to submit a detailed opinion on this appellate ruling to that panel soon.
Earlier, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 7, presided over by Judge Koo Hoe-geun, acquitted former President Yoon and Myung on the 7th after they were indicted on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.
Former President Yoon was indicted on charges of conspiring with Mrs. Kim to receive 58 opinion polls free of charge through the Future Korea Research Institute during the presidential primary and general election campaign, from June 2021 to March 2022. The special counsel determined that the polls, worth approximately 270 million won, constituted political funds; 36 were for publication and 22 were not for publication.
Last July, the first-trial court found that the 14 unpublished polls directly delivered to former President Yoon and his wife constituted the improper receipt of political funds. It sentenced former President Yoon to two years in prison and Myung to one year and six months, respectively.
The appellate court, however, ruled that it was difficult to regard free opinion polls as a “property benefit” regulated by the Political Funds Act.
The court held that, for a donation to qualify under the Political Funds Act, there must be a property benefit that can be converted into money. It found that what former President Yoon and his wife received from Myung was assistance during the election process, such as political advice on public opinion trends and introductions to influential politicians. While this could be considered a political benefit, the court ruled, it was not a property benefit convertible into money.
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter