Oh Se-hoon's Camp: 'Ruled on Possibility Without Evidence… Will Appeal and Fight'

▲ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was indicted on charges of receiving opinion poll results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a sponsor pay the costs on his behalf, is leaving the courtroom after attending his sentencing hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 22nd.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's camp expressed strong regret over the first-instance guilty verdict in the so-called "Myung Tae-kyun opinion poll cost proxy payment" case, claiming it was handed down based on mere possibilities without evidence.

Immediately following the first-instance ruling today (the 22nd), Mayor Oh's camp released a statement saying, "Although there is no evidence proving direct instruction or involvement, the first-instance court handed down a guilty verdict based solely on Myung Tae-kyun's one-sided statements and surrounding circumstances."

They went on to emphasize, "This ruling is difficult to view as meeting the fundamental principle of criminal trials, which is 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt.' It is deeply regrettable that a guilty verdict was acknowledged without objective evidence."

Mayor Oh's camp refuted the first-instance judgment, stating, "Furthermore, evidence proving direct instruction or involvement in commissioning the opinion polls was ultimately never presented. Yet, it is hard to accept that a conclusion was reached by piecing together Myung Tae-kyun's exaggerated statements and various circumstances."

They also argued, "As long as physical evidence exists showing that the questionnaires were already drafted before the time he claims the commission was received, and that they were exchanged secretly without the campaign's knowledge, all 10 indicted counts of this case deserve to be corrected to not guilty."

Mayor Oh added, "We cannot accept this ruling. We will immediately appeal and faithfully contest the facts and legal principles once again. We are confident that a fair judgment based on evidence and legal principles will be delivered in the appellate court."

Ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, Mayor Oh was found partially guilty in the first instance on charges of receiving multiple opinion poll results from Myung, and having a businessman surnamed Kim, who was a sponsor, pay the costs on his behalf, resulting in a fine of 10 million won being sentenced today.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

※