The Kim Keon-hee special counsel sought a four-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk-yeol over the "Myeong Tae-gyun free opinion polls" case. The special counsel asked the court to sentence Myeong to three years in prison.
On the 12th, at the sentencing hearing for former President Yoon and Myeong on charges of violating the Political Funds Act before the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 33 (presiding judge Lee Jin-gwan, Director General), the special counsel sought four years in prison and a forfeiture of 137.2 million won for the former president.
Prosecutors say the former president, in collusion with first lady Kim Keon-hee, received 58 opinion polls worth a total of 270 million won from Myeong free of charge from June 2021 to March 2022. The special counsel believes the polls were conducted through the Mirae Korea Research Institute, in which Myeong was involved in operations, and that the former presidential couple accepted them like political funds.
The special counsel concluded that the former president promised Myeong the nomination of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun in return for the opinion polls. Myeong was charged with donating illegal political funds by providing the opinion polls free of charge to the former presidential couple.
"After receiving the opinion polls free of charge from Myeong, the former president intervened in nominations and damaged party democracy," the special counsel said. "This crime colludes political power with money, undermines representative democracy, and squarely contradicts the legislative purpose of the Political Funds Act."
It added, "The former president says Myeong never provided opinion polls and that he never told anyone to give a nomination, but it has also been confirmed that the former presidential couple called Myeong in connection with former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun," and continued, "Even so, during the special counsel's investigation, he made hard-to-accept claims such as 'I did not know Myeong was a person who conducts opinion polls,' and shows no remorse."
The Political Funds Act prohibits the receipt of political funds in ways not prescribed by law. The special counsel views the opinion polls provided by Myeong not as simple reference material but as a political benefit involving expense. The former president's side, however, has contested both the fact of receiving the polls and any quid pro quo for nominations.
The case began with suspicions that Myeong provided presidential-election-phase opinion polls to the former presidential couple and then sought to exert influence over Kim's nomination in the June 1, 2022 by-election for the National Assembly. The special counsel calculated the criminal proceeds the former president obtained through the free opinion polls at 137.2 million won.