Thursday, October 8, 2026 - South Korean appeals court has acquitted former President Yoon Suk-yeol over allegations that he illegally received free opinion polls before the 2022 presidential election.
The Seoul High Court overturned a lower-court conviction that had sentenced Yoon to two years in prison for violating the Political Funds Act.
The case centered on 58 opinion polls worth about 270 million won ($202,000) that political broker Myung Tae-kyun provided between 2021 and 2022.
The lower court had found 14 polls amounted to illegal political donations, but the appeals court said prosecutors had not established an agreement between Yoon, his wife Kim Keon-hee and Myung to receive the polls as political contributions.
The ruling gives Yoon a significant legal reprieve as he continues to face multiple criminal cases following his removal from office. However, the acquittal concerns only the political-funding case and does not resolve his other ongoing legal battles.
The latest decision also keeps attention focused on how South Korea's courts will handle the former president's remaining appeals and investigations.
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