Testifies as witness in Oh Se-hoon's appeal trial

'Myung seemed to use me to show off,' former PPP emergency chief says

Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chief of the People Power Party, arrives at Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on Friday to testify as a witness in the appeal trial of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon over allegations that political broker Myung Tae-kyun's polling costs were paid on his behalf. [Yonhap]
Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chief of the People Power Party, arrives at Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on Friday to testify as a witness in the appeal trial of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon over allegations that political broker Myung Tae-kyun's polling costs were paid on his behalf. [Yonhap]

Kim Jong-in, former emergency committee chief of the People Power Party, testified Friday at Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's trial that he never commissioned any opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun.

Kim appeared as a witness in the continued appeal hearing of Oh's political funds law violation case, presided over by Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 under Presiding Judge Gu Hoe-geun.

Kim said he first learned of Myung through former PPP lawmaker Kim Young-sun in 2020, adding that Myung "went around talking as if he could influence candidates in the Seoul mayoral by-election, which I thought was untrue." He further testified that Myung "seemed to have sought me out through former lawmaker Kim, thinking he could do something at the central level ahead of the election, and kept making exaggerated claims."

When the court noted that Myung had described himself as Kim's strategist, Kim said, "Looking back, it seems he was trying to use me to show off." Asked how much he trusted what Myung said, Kim replied, "I never trusted what he said."

Kim also said he never instructed or asked Myung to conduct any polls. Oh's legal team has argued that it was Kim, not Oh, who actually commissioned the surveys from Myung. "I had no idea whose polls Myung was conducting," Kim said. "I never asked Myung to carry out any opinion polls."

When the special prosecution team asked why Kim continued to meet with Myung despite considering him untrustworthy, Kim said, "Looking at his behavior later, I realized he had been lying — but up until then, there was no particular reason to think he was such a bad person."

The court plans to wrap up proceedings by Oct. 2 and hold a sentencing hearing around Oct. 23.

Oh was indicted without detention in December 2025 on charges of receiving polling results from Myung on 10 occasions ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having businessman Kim Han-jeong cover the 33 million won ($24,700) cost on his behalf.

The first-instance court found that Oh had commissioned five of those polls through Myung and had Kim cover the expenses, sentencing Oh to a 10 million won fine — a penalty that would strip him of his mayoral post. Under the Political Funds Act, anyone convicted of illegally receiving political funds and fined 1 million won or more is barred from holding or being appointed to public office for five years; those already in office must resign.


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