By The South Asia Times

SEOUL — A South Korean court on Monday sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison after finding him partially guilty of illegally accepting free public opinion polls as political contributions, adding to a series of convictions stemming from his time in office, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The Seoul Central District Court convicted Yoon of violating the country's Political Funds Act, ruling that he had unlawfully received free polling services from self-described political broker Myung Tae-kyun during his presidential campaign.

According to prosecutors from the special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, Yoon, together with his wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, received 58 opinion polls worth about 270 million won (approximately US$180,000) free of charge between April 2021 and March 2022.

In its ruling, however, the court concluded that prosecutors had proven only 14 opinion polls were illegally provided to Yoon. It sentenced the former president to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit 13.96 million won, Yonhap reported.

The court accepted prosecutors' argument that Yoon had promised to support the nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun as the conservative People Power Party candidate in a 2022 parliamentary by-election in exchange for the polling services.

Myung was also convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the case.

Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison sentence for Yoon and three years for Myung.

The verdict differs from an earlier ruling involving Kim Keon Hee. In April, the Seoul High Court acquitted the former first lady on similar allegations, concluding there was insufficient evidence that she had personally benefited because the polling data had also been shared with others. Prosecutors have appealed that acquittal.

Monday's ruling marks the latest legal setback for Yoon, who is facing multiple criminal proceedings following his failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024.

In February, Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of leading an insurrection through his brief declaration of martial law, one of the most consequential political crises in South Korea's modern democratic history, according to Yonhap News.

The latest conviction further deepens the legal and political fallout surrounding the former president, whose cases continue to unfold in South Korea's courts