Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, indicted on charges of receiving polling results from political broker Myung Tae-gyun and having a supporter cover the costs, leaves the courtroom at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday after the sentencing hearing. Criminal Agreement Division 22 of Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Jo Hyeong-woo, fined Oh 10 million won on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. [Yonhap]
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, indicted on charges of receiving polling results from political broker Myung Tae-gyun and having a supporter cover the costs, leaves the courtroom at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday after the sentencing hearing. Criminal Agreement Division 22 of Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Jo Hyeong-woo, fined Oh 10 million won on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. [Yonhap]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's camp called the first-instance ruling — which carries a penalty that would strip him of his mayoral seat — "a verdict based on possibility alone, with no evidence," and said it would appeal immediately.

Lee Jong-hyeon, a special adviser on public affairs for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the court had handed down a guilty verdict "despite the absence of any evidence proving direct instruction or involvement, relying solely on the one-sided testimony of Myung Tae-gyun and circumstantial factors." Lee added that the ruling was "difficult to regard as consistent with the criminal trial's fundamental principle of proof beyond reasonable doubt," calling it "deeply regrettable that guilt was acknowledged without objective evidence."

Lee said "no evidence was ever presented to prove direct instruction or involvement in commissioning the polls," adding that "it is hard to accept that a conclusion was drawn by piecing together some highly exaggerated statements from Myung Tae-gyun and others with various circumstantial factors." He went on to say that "given the existence of physical evidence showing that the questionnaire had already been drafted before the date on which the commission was allegedly requested, and that it was exchanged secretly without the campaign's knowledge, all 10 indicted counts in this case should rightfully be corrected to not guilty." He added, "Mayor Oh cannot accept this ruling. We will appeal immediately and argue the facts and legal principles thoroughly once more," adding, "We are confident that a fair judgment grounded in evidence and law will be rendered at the appellate level."

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 pay the associated costs on his behalf. Criminal Agreement Division 22 of Seoul Central District Court sentenced Oh to a fine of 10 million won ($6,780) on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. If the sentence is finalized, Oh will lose his mayoral post under the Public Official Election Act.

Oh, who attended the hearing Wednesday, met reporters after the ruling and said, "Of the 10 published and unpublished polls, five were found guilty by the court on Wednesday." I cannot accept this. All of them should have come back not guilty." He added, "A guilty verdict was handed down based on inference — premised on the assumption that the testimony of Myung Tae-gyun, an outright liar, was likely correct — with only his statements and circumstantial evidence, and absolutely no direct evidence. We will contest this at the appellate level."


cook@heraldcorp.com