Court Grants Bail to Myung Tae-gyun, Convicted of Providing Free Polls to Yoon

Political broker Myung Tae-gyun, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in a lower court for providing free opinion poll data to former President Yoon Suk-yeol, has been released on bail. The Seoul High Court accepted his bail application, allowing him to pursue his appeal outside of detention.

Myung had been tried without detention in the initial trial but was taken into custody after receiving the prison sentence. His bail was granted under specific conditions, including a 50 million won deposit and restrictions on contacting related parties or engaging with the media. The court cited "consideration of various circumstances" as the reason for granting bail, acknowledging Myung's arguments about the lack of flight risk or evidence tampering.

Myung's defense argued that there was no risk of flight or destruction of evidence, particularly as he was undergoing medical treatment. He appealed for release, citing severe vision impairment in his left eye and difficulties in receiving outpatient care due to potential disputes with other inmates. The prosecution, however, countered that Myung's claim of no evidence tampering was invalid, referencing a separate case involving his brother-in-law's phone concealment, where a guilty verdict was issued in the first trial.

Prosecutors allege that Myung provided Yoon and his wife with 58 instances of opinion poll data, valued at approximately 270 million won, between June 2021 and March 2022. The first trial court found that 14 of these instances, where Myung directly delivered the results to the Yoon couple, constituted illegal political fund donations, leading to the 18-month prison sentence.