Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has appealed a first-instance ruling that fined him 10 million won for having a supporter pay on his behalf for polling results he received from political broker Myung Tae-kyun.
Oh's legal team submitted the appeal the previous day to Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Cho Hyung-woo, according to legal circles on the 23rd.
Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court, led by Chief Judge Cho Hyung-woo, on the 22nd sentenced Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordered the forfeiture of 21 million won. He had been indicted on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.
The court found Oh guilty of receiving polling results from Myung on several occasions ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having Kim Han-jung, known as a longtime supporter, pay the costs on his behalf. The court determined that Oh commissioned five polls from Myung — three unpublished and two published — and that Kim paid Myung a total of 21 million won on his behalf. This amounted to a guilty finding on half of the 10 polls cited in the indictment.
If the sentence is finalized, Oh will lose his mayoral post. Under the Public Official Election Act, an elected public official's election is nullified if convicted of violating the Political Funds Act and given a prison term or a fine of 1 million won or more.
Leaving the courtroom, Oh met with reporters and expressed his intention to appeal, saying he "cannot accept" the ruling. Oh argued that "it should either come out entirely as not guilty, this is probably correct," and claimed that the sentence was handed down "based only on the statements of Myung Tae-kyun, the greatest liar in the world, and circumstantial evidence, with no direct evidence whatsoever, using inference on the premise that Myung Tae-kyun's statements appear to be correct."
