Yoon Suk Yeol faces four-year prison request in appeal

Special prosecutor Min Joong-ki has requested a four-year prison sentence and a fine of 137.2 million won for former President Yoon Suk Yeol during his second trial. Yoon is accused of violating the Political Funds Act by receiving 58 free opinion polls, valued at approximately 270 million won, from political broker Myung Tae-kyun between June 2021 and March 2022.

During the appellate hearing at the Seoul High Court, the prosecution maintained its original sentencing request from the first trial. The special prosecutor team argued that the remaining 44 polls, which were found not guilty in the first instance, should also be ruled as criminal. They asserted that the polls were artificially manipulated to favor Yoon and that he was closely involved in coordinating the methods and media used, rather than being a passive recipient.

In the first trial, the court found Yoon guilty for 14 specific instances where Myung directly delivered results, sentencing him to two years in prison. Myung Tae-kyun received a sentence of 18 months in the first instance, while the prosecution is now seeking three years for him in the appeal. Meanwhile, First Lady Kim Keon-hee has been found not guilty in both the first and second trials and is currently awaiting a Supreme Court decision.