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Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon leaves the courtroom after a sentencing hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of July 22, after being indicted on charges of receiving opinion poll results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a supporter pay the cost. The Criminal Agreement Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Hyeong-woo) sentenced Mayor Oh, who was brought to trial on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, to a fine of 10 million KRW on that day / Photo by Joint Press Corps

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was sentenced to a fine of 10 million KRW in his first-instance trial after being indicted on charges of receiving opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a supporter pay the cost. If this sentence is finalized by the Supreme Court, he will lose his mayoralty.

The Criminal Agreement Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Hyeong-woo) held a first-instance sentencing hearing on July 22 for Mayor Oh, who faces charges including violation of the Political Funds Act, sentencing him to a fine of 10 million KRW and a forfeiture order of 21 million KRW. Kang Chul-won, former Vice Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul who was tried alongside him, was sentenced to a fine of 3 million KRW, while Kim Han-jung, a businessman and supporter, was sentenced to a fine of 5 million KRW.

Out of the charges alleging that Mayor Oh requested three unpublicized opinion polls and two publicized opinion polls from Myung and had 33 million KRW paid on his behalf, the court found him guilty of the 21-million-KRW portion. The court also noted that when the opinion poll results turned out unfavorable, Mayor Oh protested or delayed the release date to minimize any negative impact.

The court pointed out, "Mayor Oh's request for opinion polls and payment of costs were tied to the objective of realizing the publication and reporting of candidate-requested opinion polls, which is prohibited under the Public Official Election Act, making the nature of the crime severe." It added, "Even though Mayor Oh was well aware of the legislative intent and details of the Political Funds Act, having served as Seoul Mayor and in other roles, he led the crime and has consistently maintained an attitude of evading responsibility by making various difficult-to-accept arguments and excuses during the trial."

Ahead of the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election in 2021, Mayor Oh was charged with receiving unpublicized opinion poll results 10 times from Myung and having Kim pay approximately 33 million KRW in costs on his behalf through Kang, who was then his chief of staff.

This case is subject to the special prosecutor act's "6-3-3 rule" (mandating a first-instance verdict within six months of indictment, and appellate and Supreme Court verdicts within three months each of the preceding rulings). The Supreme Court's final ruling on Mayor Oh is expected to be completed by January next year at the latest.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters immediately after the sentencing, Mayor Oh said, "Today, five opinion polls were found guilty by the court, which I cannot accept. It would be right for all of them to be found not guilty," adding, "In the absence of direct evidence, the guilty verdict was delivered based on the premise that Myung's testimony is correct using indirect evidence and his statements." Mayor Oh's side also stated in an official release, "It is regrettable that guilt was recognized without objective evidence. Reaching a conclusion by piecing together various circumstances and parts of Myung's highly exaggerated statements is difficult to accept," announcing that they will appeal immediately.

                                                                                                        Son Seung-hyun