Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said favorable evidence that was not presented in his first trial has now been submitted to the court, speaking ahead of an appeals ruling in a case over the alleged proxy payment of opinion poll costs.
Oh made the comment to reporters on the 23rd as he arrived for the ruling hearing in his appeal on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, held before the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court under presiding judge Koo Hoeg-geun. Asked how he expected the case to turn out, Oh said, "Please watch the outcome of the trial."
Oh was indicted on charges of having a third party cover the cost of opinion polls ahead of the April 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. Prosecutors allege that Oh commissioned the polls from a person surnamed Myung through Kang, then his chief of staff and later a vice mayor, and directed that the costs be paid by a donor surnamed Kim.
The lower court found that five of the 10 polls — three unpublished surveys and two intended for publication — were commissioned by Oh's side. It also found that Kim had covered 21 million won in costs for those polls. The court fined Oh 10 million won, a penalty that under the Political Funds Act would cost him his position as mayor.