Ex-South Korea President Yoon handed fresh 2-year jail term in polling scandal

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was on Monday sentenced to two years in prison after a Seoul court found him guilty of illegally receiving free opinion polls in exchange for political support.

The latest verdict adds to the impeached leader's mounting legal troublesThe ruling by the Seoul central district court is separate from the cases linked to Yoon's controversial declaration of martial law in 2024. The 65-year-old is already in detention while appealing a life sentence for leading an insurrection through the martial law decree. In another case, he has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for allegedly sending drones into North Korea to "manufacture" a crisis ahead of the declaration."The court today found him guilty of violating the Political Funds Act and sentenced him to two years," a representative of the Seoul court told AFP.The case centred on allegations that Yoon accepted 14 free opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun between 2021 and 2022 in exchange for supporting a candidate backed by Myung in a parliamentary by-election.In its judgment, the court found that Yoon, in collusion with his wife Kim Keon Hee had received the polls as part of the arrangement.

"Yoon's conduct significantly intensified public distrust in politics and undermined the people's expectations for the sound development of democratic governance," the court said in a statement shared with AFP."The defendant's culpability is therefore exceptionally serious," it added. The court later convicted Myung Tae-kyun and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.Yoon's legal team said it would challenge the verdict, arguing that the conviction was "based solely on inference".The latest judgment comes as former first lady Kim Keon Hee awaits a Supreme Court ruling in the same polling case on Thursday after being acquitted in two earlier rulings. Kim is already serving a seven-year prison sentence in a bribery case involving jobs allegedly provided in exchange for gifts, along with a separate four-year sentence in a stock manipulation and graft case.Yoon's presidency collapsed after he declared martial law in December 2024, triggering a political crisis. The decree was swiftly overturned by opposition lawmakers, leading to his impeachment and removal from office.