KB News Desk
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was fined 10 million won ($6,700) Wednesday after a court found him guilty of having a longtime supporter pay for opinion polls conducted ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election.
Oh would lose his post if a fine of at least 1 million won is upheld in a final ruling under the Political Funds Act. The first-trial ruling does not immediately affect his status as mayor.
The Seoul Central District Court found that Oh had asked political broker Myung Tae-kyun to conduct the polls and arranged for longtime supporter Kim Han-jung to cover the costs.
The court recognized 21 million won in payments for five of the 10 polls cited in the indictment as illegal political funds. Three of the five were private polls that were not released to the public.
Oh was indicted in December on charges of receiving the results of 10 polls from Myung ahead of the April 2021 by-election and having Kim pay 33 million won for them through Kang Cheol-won, who was Oh’s chief of staff at the time and later served as Seoul vice mayor.
Prosecutors had sought an 18-month prison sentence and the forfeiture of 33 million won.
After the ruling, Oh said he would appeal, arguing that the court had based its decision on Myung’s testimony and circumstantial evidence without any direct evidence.
Kang and Kim, who were indicted alongside Oh, were fined 3 million won and 5 million won, respectively.
