Chinyang Chemical (051630.KQ), a stock widely treated as a proxy for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, surged to its daily limit after an appeals court cleared the mayor of violating the Political Funds Act in a case over who paid for opinion polls.
The stock rose 29.81% from the previous session to trade at 2,360 won after the ruling, according to the Korea Exchange on the 23rd.
Chinyang Chemical, a maker of plastic synthetic leather, is one of the best-known Oh Se-hoon theme stocks on the Korean market. It was grouped as a related stock because Chinyang Holdings (100250.KQ) Chairman Yang Jun-young and the mayor are both Korea University alumni.
The company has distanced itself from the link in past regulatory filings, saying its business has no connection to the mayor. Investors, however, still classify it as a political theme stock on the strength of that school tie, and its share price reacts sharply whenever news involving Oh surfaces.
The stock also hit its daily limit immediately after the Seoul mayoral election in June, only to reverse into a steep decline two days later. Because the share price swings on political developments rather than on earnings or business prospects, investors should be cautious.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Ku Hoe-keun, delivered the appeals ruling that day, overturning a lower court decision that had imposed a 10 million won fine and acquitting the mayor. The court noted that Myung Tae-kyun began giving detailed statements to investigators about Oh's alleged Political Funds Act violation only from December 2024, when Oh's plan to file a complaint became public. "Taken as a whole, Myung Tae-kyun's statements on the charges in this case are difficult to accept at face value," the court said.
Oh was indicted on charges that he received opinion poll results from Myung on 10 occasions ahead of the April 7, 2021, Seoul mayoral by-election and, through former Seoul Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Chul-won, had supporter Kim Han-jung cover about 33 million won in costs on his behalf. The first-instance court had found him liable for about 21 million won in covered costs, corresponding to five of the 10 polls.
