Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has filed an appeal after being sentenced to an election invalidity ruling for allegedly having a political broker, Myung Tae-kyun, conduct polling and pay a third party.
According to legal sources on July 23, Oh submitted his appeal to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 22, which had imposed a fine of 10 million won for violating political funding laws. He filed the appeal on the same day the court issued its ruling.
The court acknowledged that out of ten polling instances included in the charges against Oh, five involved his request for polling and the payment of 21 million won by Kim.
The court stated, "Crimes involving the improper receipt of political funds are aimed at eliminating the influence of money in politics and are of a serious nature. Oh, having served as mayor, should have been well aware of the intent of the political funding law, yet he led the offenses and displayed an attitude of evading responsibility during the trial."
Immediately after the ruling, Oh told reporters, "I cannot accept this. The ruling was based solely on the testimony of Mr. Myung and circumstantial evidence. I will contest this in the appeal."
According to legal sources on July 23, Oh submitted his appeal to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 22, which had imposed a fine of 10 million won for violating political funding laws. He filed the appeal on the same day the court issued its ruling.
The court acknowledged that out of ten polling instances included in the charges against Oh, five involved his request for polling and the payment of 21 million won by Kim.
The court stated, "Crimes involving the improper receipt of political funds are aimed at eliminating the influence of money in politics and are of a serious nature. Oh, having served as mayor, should have been well aware of the intent of the political funding law, yet he led the offenses and displayed an attitude of evading responsibility during the trial."
Immediately after the ruling, Oh told reporters, "I cannot accept this. The ruling was based solely on the testimony of Mr. Myung and circumstantial evidence. I will contest this in the appeal."
If the Supreme Court upholds this ruling, Oh will lose his position as mayor under the Public Election Act, raising the possibility of a by-election.
Notably, this case was prosecuted by a special prosecutor, and the so-called '6-3-3 principle' applies, which, while not absolute, indicates that a first trial should conclude within six months, followed by three months for the second and third trials. If a fine of 100 million won or more is confirmed by the Supreme Court, a by-election for the mayoral position may be held.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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