Court testimony has emerged that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon made remarks to the effect of "we just need poll numbers showing a win" during a meeting with political broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2021 by-election.
The 22nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Hyung-woo) held the fourth hearing on July 1 in the trial of Mayor Oh, who has been indicted on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. Former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun appeared as a witness. Myung had previously claimed that he met Mayor Oh around December 2020 through an introduction arranged by Kim.
Kim testified that on January 20, 2021, she visited Mayor Oh's office with Myung and had dinner together the same day. "I don't know if they had a prior appointment, but Myung said he wanted to meet Mayor Oh and asked me to come along, so I went with him," she stated. She further testified that "when Myung analyzed the general election race between lawmaker Ko Min-jung and Mayor Oh, Mayor Oh said 'we just need winning poll numbers to come out.'"
When the special counsel asked whether Mayor Oh told Myung "you do big work, do you have a place to stay in Seoul? Please be my mentor. If I become mayor, I will buy you an apartment," Kim responded, "the mentor talk definitely happened, and he did say something to the effect of 'you should have a home in Seoul, shouldn't you?'" However, she drew the line, saying "there was no mention of buying an apartment."
Mayor Oh's side, on the other hand, raised the possibility during cross-examination that Kim had coordinated false testimony with Myung, strongly challenging the credibility of her statements. Oh's defense attorney pressed, "When you gave testimony different from Myung's during the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation, the investigation was suspended and then resumed. Didn't you reverse your testimony after hearing Myung's account?" The attorney continued, "Isn't it the case that rather than refreshing your memory, you revised your memory to match someone else's claims?" Kim responded, "I think that is a matter of interpretation." Kim explained that she had merely confirmed details such as the specific date of the meeting with Mayor Oh through Myung because she could not remember, and that she had not coordinated her testimony.
Mayor Oh has been indicted on charges of commissioning Myung to conduct opinion polls ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and instructing then-Chief of Staff Kang Cheol-won, former deputy mayor, to coordinate with Myung to carry out the polls. The special counsel believes Mayor Oh asked a supporter surnamed Kim to cover the polling costs on his behalf.
