Seoul Mayor Oh fined for illegal polling payments, could lose office
A court fined Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon 10 million won ($6,760) over illegal polling payments, a ruling that could cost him his post if upheld by the Supreme Court.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon answers reporters' questions after leaving the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul on July 22 following his sentencing hearing on charges of receiving public opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a supporter cover the costs.
YONHAP
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been fined 10 million won ($6,760) on Wednesday in his first trial after being convicted of receiving public opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a third party pay for them in his stead — a violation of the Politicians Fund Act.
If the ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court, Oh will lose his position as mayor.
Prosecutors indicted Oh in December last year on charges of receiving 10 public opinion polls from Myung — three published and seven unpublished — ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, and having his supporter Kim Han-jung pay about 33 million won for them.
The Seoul Central District Court "recognized that one unpublished opinion poll was conducted at the request of Mayor Oh" in connection with charges that he violated the Political Funds Act.
“Oh met Myung in December 2020 after being introduced to him as an election polling expert," the court said, adding that Oh "had a motive to commission opinion polls from Myung."
While the court said parts of Myung's testimony were difficult to accept, it found that the portions consistent with the surrounding circumstances and other witness statements were credible.
The court further found that six unpublished opinion polls conducted by Mirea Korea Research Institute (translated) were delivered to former People Power Party interim leader Kim Chong-in.
“The alleged proxy payment of polling costs involving Myung falls within the scope of the special counsel's investigation,” the court ruled. “The 10 million won paid by one of Oh's supporters constituted payment for the opinion polls”
The court further found that a third party had covered the costs for five of the 10 opinion polls Oh received from Myung.
Myung is also standing trial in a separate case over allegations that he provided free opinion polls to former President Yoon Suk Yeol in collusion with Yoon's wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Myung was sentenced on July 17 to one year and six months in prison and was taken into custody in the courtroom over concerns that he could destroy evidence.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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