After observing the appeal trial of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon for alleged violations of the Political Fund Law, I received a tip via KakaoTalk. The informant, who is familiar with the urban planning work in Jinhae, raised questions about the testimony of Myung Tae-kyun presented in court.
Myung claimed that on January 22, 2021, while passing through the Jangbok Tunnel in Jinhae, he received multiple calls from Mayor Oh and was tasked with conducting a public opinion survey. According to Myung's recollection, he received about four calls from the mayor, during which the issue of conducting the survey was discussed.
However, the informant questioned, "The Jangbok Tunnel is so short that you can see the exit from the entrance. Is it really possible to receive and converse on four calls during such a brief passage?"
In fact, the Jangbok Tunnel is approximately 848 meters long, which takes about 50 seconds to traverse at a speed of 60 km/h. If there was no traffic, it would be quite challenging to complete four calls in that short time frame.
It is also necessary to clarify whether Myung's reference to 'passing through the Jangbok Tunnel' strictly pertains to the tunnel itself or includes the road sections before and after entering the tunnel. It cannot be ruled out that the four calls included missed calls or those that did not connect. Therefore, one cannot definitively conclude that Myung's testimony is false based solely on the tunnel's length.
However, this issue extends beyond mere memory discrepancies regarding location. Myung's assertion that Mayor Oh requested the survey is pivotal, as the timing and location of the calls, as well as the subsequent instructions given, are crucial to determining whether the request was made.
On the 28th, a debate over this timeline unfolded in court. The special prosecution team presented evidence suggesting that around 2:20 to 2:30 PM, prior to the time Myung claimed he spoke with Mayor Oh, Kang Hye-kyung had already begun drafting messages related to the public opinion survey.
If Mayor Oh's call triggered the survey preparation, it would need to have occurred before the survey was being prepared. However, if Myung's recollection of the call times is after 3:30 PM, it would indicate that the preparation had already begun, creating a mismatch in the timeline.
Seemingly aware of this issue, the special prosecution team asked Myung during cross-examination whether it was possible he received the request from Mayor Oh before 2 PM. Myung responded that while the area around the Jangbok Tunnel is congested during rush hours, he recalls it was not congested at that time, but he also noted that it was over five years ago, making it difficult to remember the exact timing.
This response can be interpreted in two ways. It could suggest that there was some confusion regarding the timing due to the passage of time. Conversely, it could imply that since the objective message timing presented by the prosecutor did not align, Myung was leaving open the possibility of adjusting his original statement.
Notably, Myung's testimony shows inconsistencies in both time and location. The claim of having four calls while passing through the tunnel does not easily align with the actual length of 848 meters. Additionally, his recollection of the time around 3:30 PM conflicts with the evidence indicating that survey preparation began in the 2 PM hour.
Moreover, while Myung has stated that the calls occurred around 3:30 PM or between 4 and 5 PM, the special prosecution team raised the possibility that they could have happened before 2 PM. If the timing of this key call fluctuates significantly, the court will have to scrutinize the reliability of Myung's memory more rigorously.
However, the fact that survey preparation began earlier does not automatically imply that it was unrelated to Mayor Oh. It must be determined whether there were prior discussions through other channels, whether Myung simply misremembered the call times, or whether Myung's team was independently preparing the survey. This can be clarified through call records and original message timestamps.
The most straightforward method of verification is not complicated. By aligning the timestamps of calls between Mayor Oh and Myung on January 22, 2021, along with the duration of each call, Myung's movements, and the time Kang Hye-kyung first drafted and sent the survey, one can ascertain whether the four calls were indeed connected and how long each lasted.
There is no reason to rely solely on the witness's distant memory for issues that can be confirmed with objective data. The informant's questions, while seemingly minor, provide concrete leads to verify the credibility of Myung's testimony. The short 848-meter tunnel may not speak, but call records and travel times do not lie.
The appellate court must assess not Myung's demeanor or confidence but whether Mayor Oh's request for the survey actually occurred and whether the timeline supporting that claim aligns with objective records. If the existence of the four calls from the tunnel is confirmed, Myung's testimony will gain credibility. Conversely, if the time and location do not match, it could further undermine the key testimony that supported the initial guilty verdict.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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