A phone recording between businessman Kim Han-jung and Myung Tae-kyun has been submitted as evidence in the appeal trial of Seoul Mayor Ose-hoon, who is facing allegations related to the payment of opinion polls. The recording reportedly indicates that Mayor Ose-hoon did not commission the polls from Myung.
According to legal sources on September 15, Kim's side, identified as a party involved in the alleged payment scheme, recently submitted the recording to the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, which is handling Ose-hoon's appeal regarding charges of violating political funding laws. The court is expected to decide on the admissibility of this evidence on September 16.
The recording captures conversations from March 6 and 13, 2021, prior to the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, during which Ose-hoon was selected as the candidate for the People Power Party and Ahn Cheol-soo was pursuing a unification effort.
In the recording, Kim states to Myung, "I said, 'I will make sure the percentage (of support) comes out well,' based on what you told me, but the result did not turn out that way." He adds, "I wanted to help this guy, so I did the work myself, not because he wanted it, but I did it on my own."
This suggests that while Kim commissioned the opinion poll that was supposed to favor Ose-hoon, the actual results did not meet expectations, implying that Kim acted independently rather than at Ose-hoon's request. This contradicts the prosecution's claim that Ose-hoon had Myung commission the polls and then had Kim cover the costs.
Myung also remarked, "Ose-hoon did not directly introduce (Kim) to me," and added, "Regardless of Ose-hoon, my brother helped me out." This statement contradicts Myung's previous testimony to investigators, which suggested that Ose-hoon had introduced Kim as a potential financier.
In a prior ruling, the first trial concluded that Ose-hoon had commissioned the polls from Myung and that Kim had paid 21 million won on his behalf, resulting in a fine of 10 million won, which disqualified Ose-hoon from holding office.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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