Political broker Myung Tae-kyun, who was sentenced to prison and taken into custody at trial on charges of providing free polling services to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaves the Seoul Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday after being released on bail. [Yonhap]
Political broker Myung Tae-kyun, who was sentenced to prison and taken into custody at trial on charges of providing free polling services to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaves the Seoul Detention Center in Gyeonggi Province on Tuesday after being released on bail. [Yonhap]

Political broker Myung Tae-kyun, sentenced to one year and six months in prison on charges of providing free polling services to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was released on bail Tuesday.

His release came 43 days after the first-instance verdict on July 13.

Leaving the Seoul Detention Center at around 1:56 p.m. that day, Myung told reporters he was "sincerely grateful to the judiciary for granting bail."

"I am just an ordinary man living in the countryside, yet I have disturbed the nation and caused worry and concern to the public," he added. "I sincerely apologize."

Asked about the Kim Keon Hee special prosecutor's position that a detention-based investigation is appropriate, Myung said, "I believe any ruling handed down by the Republic of Korea's judiciary must be respected."

On how he plans to handle the ongoing trial, he said, "I suppose I'll just proceed with the facts."

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Chief Judge Gu Hoe-geun, granted Myung's bail application Tuesday while his appeal on charges of violating the Political Funds Act is under way.

Bail allows a detained defendant to be released by suspending the execution of detention, subject to payment of a set deposit.

The court found that bail was warranted after considering all relevant circumstances and granted the application.

As conditions of bail, the court required Myung to pay a bail bond of 50 million won ($36,200) and barred him from contacting related parties or giving media interviews.

The first-instance court had sentenced Myung to one year and six months in prison and ordered him taken into custody at trial, citing concerns about destruction of evidence. Former President Yoon, indicted on the same charges, received a two-year prison sentence at trial and had 13.96 million won forfeited.

Myung was indicted on charges of providing 58 rounds of polling services worth a combined 270 million won free of charge to Yoon and his wife between June 2021 and March 2022.


min3654@heraldcorp.com