The appeal in the case over polling costs allegedly paid on behalf of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is entering its final stage. Closing arguments are set for shortly after the Chuseok holiday, with a ruling possible as early as October. The outcome carries heavy stakes for Oh, who was partly convicted at first instance and given a fine steep enough to cost him his post. During the appeal, his defense has focused on undermining the credibility of statements by political broker Myung Tae-kyun, including by submitting additional audio recordings.
Lower court: Oh had ample motive, and payments made no sense without a request
The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Senior Judge Ku Hoe-keun, will hold closing arguments on Oct. 2 in the political funds law case against Oh, former Seoul Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Chul-won and businessman Kim Han-jung, according to legal sources on the 25th. The court plans to conclude arguments that day and hand down a ruling as early as Oct. 23, about three months after the first-instance verdict of July 22.
Oh was indicted on charges that he commissioned polls from Myung ahead of the April 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and had Kim, a donor, pay the costs on his behalf.
Of the 10 polls cited in the indictment, the lower court found that three unpublished polls and two polls intended for publication were commissioned by Oh's side. The court held that Oh, whose political standing had weakened at the time, could not have ignored the in-party support enjoyed by his primary rival, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the People Power Party. That situation, the court said, gave Oh a motive to take an interest in Myung and commission the polls.
The court found that Kim covered 21 million won in costs for the five polls. It pointed in particular to a 10 million won transfer Kim made to Myung's side in the early stages of the case, saying there was no reason to hand over such a large sum before the two men had built a personal relationship. The court noted that the pair first exchanged messages on Feb. 17, while the first transfer took place on Feb. 1. Without a request from Oh's side, it concluded, Kim had no reason to pay Myung's side such a large amount.
The lower court did not, however, accept all of Myung's statements in reaching its guilty finding. It credited only those portions consistent with objective evidence such as KakaoTalk messages and transfer records. The court noted that Myung's account of which polls had been commissioned by Oh shifted several times and that some of his statements contained fabrications. On that basis, it found insufficient proof that the remaining 12 million won of the 33 million won Kim paid to Myung's side covered polls commissioned by Oh.
The court fined Oh 10 million won, an amount that under the Political Funds Act would cost him his position as mayor.
A recording surfaces: "Oh Se-hoon doesn't know." Appeal turns on whether he asked
In the appeal, which began in August, Oh's lawyers have mounted repeated challenges to the central issue in the case: the credibility of Myung's statements.
The Supreme Court in principle reviews questions of law — whether the lower courts correctly interpreted and applied statutes — rather than reexamining the facts. For Oh, the appeal is effectively the last stage at which the facts and the reliability of the evidence can be contested. If the conviction stands on appeal, overturning the established facts at the Supreme Court will be difficult. That is why his side has concentrated on impeaching Myung's credibility and on overturning the lower court's finding that Oh asked Kim to cover the polling costs.
A recording of a phone call with Myung, submitted by Kim — the man identified as having covered the costs — was recently admitted as impeaching evidence, and is expected to be a significant variable on appeal. In the recording, Kim says he acted on his own to help Oh: "They didn't ask for it, I did it on my own." Myung says: "Oh Se-hoon doesn't know. He doesn't know, so don't worry. I'll take care of it."
Oh's side argued that the recording shows Kim supported the polling costs independently, unrelated to any request from the mayor. The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki questioned the authenticity of the material, noting that only three of 35 recordings found on Kim's phone were submitted. The court, however, found no indication at this stage that the recordings were obtained unlawfully or were false or altered.
The meaning of the evidence could shift depending on the specific context — whether Myung's remark that Oh "doesn't know" referred to the commissioning of the polls themselves, to Kim's payments, or to a request by Oh for someone else to pay. How the court weighs that remark alongside other evidence will be decisive.
Kwak Joon-ho, managing attorney at law firm Chung, said the newly submitted recording is "circumstantial evidence that can be used to contest the credibility of Myung's statements, rather than direct evidence." He added: "The outcome cannot be predicted, but there is now room for a different finding than the one reached at first instance."
A lawyer and former senior judge said that "if the main grounds for the conviction at first instance turn out to be mistaken in light of the new evidence, the appeals court must reassess them." The lawyer added: "If the thrust of Myung's 'doesn't know' remark in the recording is clear, it could serve as a fairly important piece of evidence on appeal."
