[Anchor]
Legal affairs specialist reporter Im Chanjong is here with us.
Q. Why are the rulings different for Oh Se-hoon, Kim Keon-hee, and Yoon Suk Yeol in the Myung Tae-kyun case?
[Im Chanjong / Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter: The most important reason is that the courts reached different conclusions regarding who commissioned the opinion polls. For a politician receiving free opinion polls to constitute a violation of the Political Funds Act, it must be proven that the provided polls were commissioned by that politician. This is because if polls that were never requested are provided, the recipient politician cannot be evaluated as having gained a pecuniary benefit. In relation to this, the first trial of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon concluded that Mayor Oh commissioned five opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun, resulting in a guilty verdict today (the 22nd). On the other hand, in the first and second trials of Kim Keon-hee, the court ruled that Kim and former President Yoon did not commission the polls, leading to an acquittal. However, in a separately conducted first-trial proceeding for former President Yoon, the court handed down a guilty verdict, determining that there was a "meeting of minds" regarding the polls between Myung and former President Yoon's side.]
Q. Kim Keon-hee's Supreme Court ruling is the day after tomorrow... Impact on the trials of Oh Se-hoon and Yoon Suk Yeol?
[Im Chanjong / Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter: The Supreme Court ruling on Kim Keon-hee scheduled for the day after tomorrow will have a direct impact on the trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Because Kim Keon-hee and former President Yoon were indicted as accomplices, their trials were only conducted separately, making it virtually the same case. The problem is that the first and second-trial rulings for Kim Keon-hee and the first-trial ruling for former President Yoon contradict each other. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruling on Kim Keon-hee coming out the day after tomorrow is expected to serve as the benchmark for former President Yoon's second trial, thereby resolving this contradiction. Meanwhile, Mayor Oh Se-hoon's case is the same as the couple's case in that he received opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun, but because it is a separate case with different specific facts, the Supreme Court ruling on the Kim Keon-hee case is not expected to apply directly as a standard in this case.]
Q. When will the final verdict for the 'Oh Se-hoon case' be finalized?
[Im Chanjong / Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter: According to the Special Prosecutor Act, the second trial must conclude within three months, and the Supreme Court must also finish its proceedings within three months. Therefore, the second trial should be completed within October of this year, and if the second trial utilizes the full three-month period, the Supreme Court must deliver its ruling by January of next year. However, if the Supreme Court overturns and remands the second-trial ruling, a remand trial will take place again, meaning the final confirmation of the verdict could be delayed further.]
(Video by Wi Won-yang)
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