A recorded phone call between political broker Myung Tae-kyun and Kim Han-jung, a backer of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, has been admitted as new evidence in the appeal over allegations that polling costs were paid on the mayor's behalf. Oh's side said the recording undermines the credibility of Myung's statement that the polls were conducted at Oh's request.
The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Senior Judge Ku Hoe-keun, on the 16th admitted three recorded phone calls submitted by Kim as evidence for assessing whether courtroom testimony is credible, known as impeachment evidence, in the appeal of political funds law violations involving Oh, former Seoul Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Chul-won and Kim. The appeals court will hold closing arguments on Oct. 2.
In the call, made ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, Kim said, "I did the work because I wanted to help this person," referring to Oh, indicating that he acted on his own rather than at the request of Oh's side. Myung also said, "Oh Se-hoon doesn't know." Oh's side argued that such remarks support the view that the polling was carried out at Kim's own initiative rather than at Oh's request.
The recordings were not submitted at the first trial. Kim explained that during the appeal he retrieved an old mobile phone stored in a warehouse at a villa on Jeju Island, found 35 recorded calls with Myung and submitted three of them.
The team led by special counsel Min Joong-ki, by contrast, raised the possibility that Kim had selected only recordings favorable to himself. It opposed admitting the material, saying some files were not originals and showed signs of editing. The court accepted them as evidence, however, saying no indication of illegal acquisition, falsification or manipulation had been confirmed so far.
The transcript also included a passage in which Kim said, in effect, that Kang "puts together polls well." Kim responded that Kang had never actually said such a thing, adding, "I think I was relaying what Kang said to Myung."
Oh was indicted on charges of receiving polling results from Myung and having Kim pay the costs on his behalf. The first trial found that Oh commissioned five polls and that Kim paid 21 million won on his behalf, imposing a fine of 10 million won and forfeiture of 21 million won.
