South Korean appeals court acquits Yoon Suk Yeol in free opinion polls case

South Korea’s Seoul High Court acquitted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on October 7, 2026, overturning his conviction for allegedly receiving free opinion polls before the 2022 presidential election. The court also acquitted political broker Myung Tae-gyun, who was tried alongside him. The ruling reverses prison sentences imposed in July, although special counsel prosecutors indicated they would take Yoon’s case to the Supreme Court.

Why the Seoul High Court overturned Yoon’s conviction

The case concerned allegations that Myung supplied 58 opinion polls, valued at about 270 million won, without charge to Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee. Prosecutors treated the polling as an improper political donation under the Political Funds Act. The appeals court rejected that interpretation and overturned the Seoul Central District Court’s finding that Yoon had violated the law.

According to SBS News, the appeals court regarded the poll results as a means for Myung to give political advice. It reasoned that the advice could provide a political benefit but could not be converted into a property benefit of the kind required for a political funds contribution. Yonhap News Agency likewise reported that the court found the polling did not qualify as a political donation under the act.

The appellate judges also found insufficient evidence of an arrangement among Yoon, Kim and Myung to commission or receive the polls for free. SBS reported that the court identified no direct evidence of a mutual understanding, such as a request or consultation. Yonhap reported that the court cited the absence of evidence of an agreement between the former first couple and Myung.

How the ruling differs from the July verdict

A pre-ruling account by Seoul Economic Daily said the lower court relied on messages exchanged between Kim and Myung, their continued contact and the advance provision of material when it inferred an agreement. Those were elements of the first-instance court’s reasoning, which the appellate court has now overturned. The difference matters because the July conviction depended on treating part of the polling as something Yoon had implicitly agreed to receive.

Before the appellate decision, the special counsel team sought a four-year prison term for Yoon and a three-year term for Myung, Yonhap reported. Seoul Economic Daily also reported that prosecutors had sought forfeiture of 137.2 million won from Yoon. The appeals court instead acquitted both defendants in this case.

What happens after Yoon and Myung’s acquittals

Yonhap reported that the special counsel team indicated after the ruling that it would appeal to the Supreme Court. That is a stated intention; the available reports do not establish that an appeal has been filed. Yoon’s legal team welcomed the acquittal, according to Yonhap. The appellate judgment therefore changes the outcome of this case at this stage, but it does not establish a final Supreme Court outcome.

Kim has already been acquitted in separate first- and second-instance proceedings on the same charges and is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling, Yonhap reported. Seoul Economic Daily described how the first-instance verdict against Yoon had differed from the courts’ decisions in Kim’s case. Yoon’s new appellate acquittal does not itself decide her separate case.

SBS also reported that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces a separate case concerning allegations that others covered polling costs for him. It said an appellate ruling in his case was scheduled for October 23. That proceeding has its own allegations and has not been resolved by the decision concerning Yoon and Myung.