The People Power Party on Wednesday strongly condemned a first-instance court ruling that fined Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon 10 million won ($6,780) on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, calling it "a political ruling that undermines judicial justice."
Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said in a statement that while he respects the judgment of the courts, he questioned whether a guilty verdict could be handed down "solely on the basis of a judge's preconceptions that rely entirely on the testimony of Myung Tae-gyun." He added that even the court itself "acknowledged that Myung's statements from the investigative stage through to this courtroom have been inconsistent."
Jeong said "a ruling must be grounded in rigorous evidence and facts — not in circumstantial inference and preconception," and expressed hope that "a more thorough review and judgment will be made at the appellate level."
Park Sung-hoon, the party's chief spokesperson, also issued a statement calling the 10 million won invalidation-of-election ruling against Oh "a grave incident that forces the public to ask whether the South Korean judiciary is the last bastion protecting the people's trust, or an institution that moves at the whim of political power."
Park said a perception is spreading among the public that lenient standards are applied to figures from the ruling camp while excessively strict standards are applied to those from the opposition — what he described as a "ruling party innocent, opposition guilty" dynamic. He argued that the growing prevalence of this perception "only deepens public distrust not only in the judiciary but in the Lee Jae Myung administration."
Park added that trials involving elected officials chosen by 10 million Seoul residents "demand stricter legal reasoning and more careful judgment than any other case," and expressed hope that the ruling would be "reviewed more faithfully and rigorously in accordance with the law and evidence at the appellate and higher courts."
People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eun-hee also took to Facebook, saying the first-instance ruling against Mayor Oh "is difficult to accept," and criticized the verdict as "inherently contradictory" for finding guilt in five of the 10 polling cases.
Cho said it was "hard to accept a guilty verdict based solely on the claims of a witness whose credibility is in doubt, with no direct evidence," and said "the substantive truth must be revealed at a higher court based on objective evidence and legal principles."
Kim Moon-soo, the party's former presidential candidate, also weighed in, saying Oh had been handed a 10 million won fine for violating the Political Funds Act and asking, "How can we trust a judiciary that delivers a fatal sentence against Mayor Oh while not even proceeding with the five trials against President Lee Jae Myung?"
Kim also invoked the phrase "ruling party innocent, opposition guilty," raising questions about the fairness of the ruling.
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also wrote on Facebook that Wednesday's first-instance guilty verdict "is difficult to accept, as the credibility of testimony from those involved is low and riddled with logical leaps," adding that he hopes "the appellate court will set it right."
Oh was indicted on charges of receiving polling results from political broker Myung Tae-gyun ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having a supporter cover the costs. The first-instance court sentenced him to a fine of 10 million won. If the conviction and sentence are upheld through all appeals, Oh would lose his mayoral seat.
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