Oh Se-hoon Acquitted in Appeal Over Allegations of Polling Payment

Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, was acquitted in an appeal regarding allegations of receiving polling results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having the costs covered by a supporter.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, led by Judge Koo Hoe-geun, overturned the original ruling on October 23, which had sentenced Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordered the forfeiture of 21 million won for violating political funding laws. Businessman Kim Han-jeong and former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won, who were also indicted, were similarly acquitted.

Oh was charged last December for allegedly receiving polling results from Myung on ten occasions before the April 7, 2021, Seoul mayoral by-election and having Kim pay 33 million won on his behalf.

In a previous ruling on July 22, Oh was fined 10 million won and ordered to forfeit 21 million won, while Kim received a fine of 5 million won and Kang was fined 3 million won.

The first court found that Oh had commissioned five of the ten polling instances listed in the indictment (three undisclosed and two disclosed) and that Kim had covered the 21 million won in costs. However, it concluded that it could not definitively determine that Oh had commissioned or that Kim had covered the costs for the remaining five polls.

The special prosecutor's team led by Kim Geon-hee, which handled the investigation and indictment, had sought a sentence of one year and six months in prison for Oh and a forfeiture of 33 million won during the closing arguments on October 2.

With this ruling, Oh, who faced the loss of his mayoral position in the first trial, has alleviated his legal risks until the Supreme Court's decision.

Article 57 of the Political Funding Act states that anyone sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more for political funding violations cannot assume or be appointed to public office for five years after the sentence is finalized, and those already in office must resign.