[3rd report] 'Myeong Tae-gyun public opinion poll': imprisonment → not guilty... “It’s not a political donation.”

2nd trial, “It cannot be converted into a property benefit… The intention of the donation cannot be proven.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-seop = Former President Yoon Seok-yeol, who was indicted on charges of receiving free opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-gyun, was acquitted in the second trial.

Some of the guilty verdicts in the first trial were overturned.

On the 7th, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Koo Hoe-geun) acquitted former President Yoon and Mr. Myung, who were sent to trial on charges of violating the Political Fund Act.

Special prosecutor Min Joong-ki's team had requested a four-year prison term for former President Yoon and a three-year prison sentence for Myung.

The court ruled that the charge that former President Yoon colluded with First Lady Kim Kun-hee and received 58 opinion polls worth a total of 270 million won for free from Mr. Myeong between June 2021 and March 2022 was not proven.

First, he pointed out that Myeong's act of providing opinion polls to former President Yoon and his wife cannot be considered a 'political fund donation' under the Political Fund Act.

The reason for donating political funds is that there must be a financial gain, and it is difficult to classify the opinion poll delivered by Myeong as a ‘property gain.’

The court ruled, "What Seok-Yeol Yoon and his wife received from Tae-Gyun Myeong appears to be assistance such as political advice on public opinion trends and introduction of influential politicians, and the opinion poll was only presented as a means or part of the basis for political advice along with other surveys," and added, "Whether Myeong Tae-Gyun conducted the opinion poll himself or not and the results do not seem to be very important."

At the same time, he pointed out, “The political advice provided by Myung Tae-gyun can be viewed as political benefit, but it cannot be converted into property benefit,” and “It is difficult to view it as a political fund donation.”

In addition, the second trial court ruled, "There is no evidence to suggest that there was agreement between Myung Tae-gyun and Yoon Seok-yeol, such as requests or discussions on conducting public opinion polls or providing free services," and "It is difficult to acknowledge the defendant's intentional intention to donate political funds."

The court explained that it comprehensively took into account the fact that the opinion poll was conducted in accordance with the sole intention and judgment of the Institute for Future Korea, the fact that only a portion of it was delivered to former President Yoon and his wife, and the fact that Mr. Myeong also provided the opinion poll to other politicians, including former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok.

This runs counter to the first trial ruling that there was a tacit agreement between former President Yoon and his wife and Mr. Myung regarding the conduct and provision of the opinion poll.

The first trial found Myung guilty of conducting 14 public opinion polls in which he directly delivered the results to former President Yoon and his wife. This is because it is judged that Mr. Jeong donated political funds equivalent to the cost of the opinion poll to the couple.

Accordingly, the property profits earned by the couple were calculated to be about 27.92 million won. Since the remaining 44 polls were not delivered directly by Myeong, it was determined that it could not be concluded that they were provided pursuant to an agreement with the couple.

The first trial court sentenced former President Yoon to two years in prison and Mr. Myung to one year and six months in prison.

The first and second trials of Ms. Kim Kun-hee, who was previously indicted on the same charge, found Ms. Myeong not guilty, finding that she unilaterally provided public opinion polls without prior request or consultation for the purpose of expanding the business activities or political influence of the Future Korea Research Institute, a public opinion research institute she ran.