South Korean court sentences ousted President Yoon to 2 years over manipulated opinion polls
A South Korean court has sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison for illegally receiving manipulated opinion polls for free from a political broker, potentially aiding his 2022 presidential bid
SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean court on Monday sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison for illegally receiving manipulated opinion polls for free from a political broker, potentially helping him secure his party's 2022 presidential bid, in return for political favors.
The case is one of seven trials facing the former conservative president, who was impeached last year following a brief imposition of martial law in December 2024 that triggered South Korea’s biggest political crisis in decades.
Last week, the country's Supreme Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence against Yoon, his first case to reach the country’s highest court since the ouster.
Yoon has appealed some convictions, including a February life sentence for the most serious rebellion charge stemming from his botched power grab. His lawyers said they would also appeal Monday’s ruling, calling it based on insufficient evidence.
The Seoul Central District Court said Monday Yoon violated the country’s political funding law. The political broker Myung Tae-kyun was handed 1 1/2 years in prison for the same charge.
Myung was accused of conducting 14 free opinion polls for Yoon between June and October 2021 using manipulated data, potentially helping Yoon win his party’s presidential nomination before his election win in March 2022.
The political broker wanted former lawmaker Kim Young-sun to be the conservative People Power Party candidate in the 2022 legislative by-election. The court said Yoon had exerted undue influence on his party to fulfill Myung’s request in exchange for the manipulated polls.
Yoon’s surprise late-night martial law declaration on Dec. 3, 2024, which lasted only a few hours, threw the country into turmoil. Lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at Seoul’s National Assembly and voted to repeal the measure, forcing Yoon’s Cabinet to lift it.
Yoon was impeached by the liberal-led legislature later that month, before his formal removal by the Constitutional Court. After being released from custody earlier in 2025, he was re-arrested in July last year and has since stood trial in multiple criminal cases while in detention.
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