Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon denied wrongdoing on the 2nd in his final statement at an appeals trial over allegations that a donor covered opinion poll costs on his behalf, saying he had never discussed polls in advance or used their results in an election campaign. Oh grew tearful as he delivered the statement.
"Since entering politics, I have always held to the principles I set for myself in carrying out public office," Oh said at the final hearing of his appeal on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, heard by Criminal Division 7 of the Seoul High Court under presiding judge Ku Hoe-keun. "Asking someone described as a donor to pay costs on my behalf is something that could never fit with my political convictions."
Oh was indicted on charges of receiving opinion poll results from Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the April 7, 2021, Seoul mayoral by-election and having Kim Han-jung, a businessman known as a donor, pay 33 million won on his behalf. The first trial found that Oh's side had commissioned five of those polls and that Kim had paid 21 million won in costs, imposing a fine of 10 million won and forfeiture of 21 million won.
"As a first-term lawmaker, I led the way in writing legislation to improve the transparency of political funds, and it came to be called the Oh Se-hoon Act," he said. "It is a name I am prouder of than my five terms as mayor."
The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki asked the court on the same day to sentence Oh to one year and six months in prison and order forfeiture of 33 million won, the amount it had originally sought in the first trial. It sought one-year prison terms each for Kang Chul-won, former vice mayor for political affairs of Seoul, and Kim, who were indicted alongside Oh.
Oh also disputed the motive presented by the special counsel. "The polls at issue in this case came not long after I declared my candidacy, so it was not a point at which favorable or unfavorable poll results carried much meaning," he said. "The special counsel's framing — that I had no choice but to commission polls because I was deceived by Myung Tae-kyun, who had just come up from the provinces — makes no sense at all."
Oh said of Myung that he had "judged him to be someone difficult to trust quickly." He did, however, apologize for not cutting ties with Myung immediately. "When I got an odd feeling about Myung, I failed to cut him off firmly and at once and let him keep approaching me, and I deeply regret that this has left me standing in court," he said.
"It is not losing my post that I fear," Oh said, raising his voice. "What I fear is that in an era of deep distrust of politics, a politician who has kept to his principles will be tainted by the hatred and hostility of a mere political broker and disappoint the public, and that the mission entrusted to me, including Seoul's prosperity, will come to a halt." He added: "I believe the truth always prevails. I earnestly ask for a wise judgment grounded in the truth."
The appeals verdict is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the 23rd of this month.
Meanwhile, the abolition of the Prosecutors' Office under the revised Criminal Procedure Act, which took effect the same day, caused confusion in the courtroom. At the final hearing, the bench handling the poll-payment case said: "There appear to be cases where issues arise regarding the status of prosecutors as the office changes to the Public Prosecution Agency." It added: "Just in case, I think it would be better for the assistant special counsel to cover the broad outline of the arguments first, with the prosecutors handling the details."
