Prosecutors on the 28th dropped their appeal in the case of former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Noh Ung-rae, who had been sent to trial on charges including taking bribes but was acquitted in the first and second trials. As a result, Noh's acquittal has been finalized.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said in a press notice that day, "We have decided not to file a Supreme Court appeal against the appellate ruling on former lawmaker Noh regarding bribery and other charges."
It added, "The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed an appeal in Dec. 2025 against the first-trial acquittal and argued the legality of the evidence," noting, "We considered both the recent trend in court rulings to judge more strictly the legality of the procedures and requirements for voluntarily submitting items seized earlier as evidence in related cases, and the likelihood of the Supreme Court granting an appeal."
From February to December 2020, the former lawmaker was sent to trial on charges, including bribery and violations of the Political Funds Act, for allegedly receiving 60 million won in five installments from a businessman surnamed Park in exchange for various favors.
While currently investigating the influence-peddling case involving former Democratic Party deputy secretary-general Lee Jeong-geun, prosecutors seized the cell phone of Park's wife, a person surnamed Cho. They found clues indicating the former lawmaker's acceptance of bribes on the device. In 2023, prosecutors indicted the former lawmaker without detention based on audio recordings of conversations between Cho and the former lawmaker, among other materials.
However, in November last year, the first trial court ruled that Cho's cell phone was "illegally collected evidence" obtained voluntarily during a separate criminal investigation and did not admit it as evidence. The appellate court reached the same conclusion and acquitted the former lawmaker.