South Korean court jails ex-President Yoon for 2 years in political funding case

A South Korean court on Monday held former President Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of illegally receiving opinion polling services worth 270 million won ($179,800) for free from a political broker and sentenced him to two years in prison, according to South Korean media.

The Seoul Central District Court held that Yoon violated political funding laws by receiving 14 rounds of polling from the political broker for free and later exercised influence over the nomination of a former lawmaker to repay him.

Yoon had denied the charge and said he had not requested the survey or promised anything in return.

Yoon is already serving a life sentence awarded to him earlier this year for masterminding an insurrection last year.

Overall, Yoon is involved in at least eight legal cases at the moment, including the insurrection case that he has appealed in a higher court. Other cases against Yoon include a Supreme Court ruling last week that finalised a seven-year prison sentence for obstructing authorities' attempt to arrest him.

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Yoon's wife, former First Lady Kim Keon Hee, has also been convicted in multiple cases.

In January, Kim was found guilty of accepting bribes from Unification Church officials in return for political favours and was sentenced to 20 months in jail. She was then convicted of bribery in another case last month and jailed for seven years.

Yoon's downfall began in 2024 with a botched attempt to implement martial rule in the country. After dramatic scenes that involved MPs dodging cordons, the parliament convened overturned the martial rule. The parliament subsequently impeached him, and he was later arrested and slapped with multiple charges.