Prosecutors Seek 1-Year, 6-Month Prison Sentence for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in Appeal Trial Over Unpaid Poll Costs

▲ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attends the final appeal hearing regarding allegations related to Myung Tae-kyun's opinion polls at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on October 2.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who has been indicted over allegations that his opinion poll costs were covertly paid by a third party, faces a prison sentence demand again in his appellate trial.

During the final appeal hearing presided over by Presiding Judge Gu Hoe-keun of Criminal Division 7 at the Seoul High Court on October 2, the special counsel team led by Independent Counsel Min Joong-ki requested the court to "sentence Mayor Oh to one year and six months in prison and order the forfeiture of 33 million won."

Additionally, the special counsel requested one-year prison sentences for both Kang Cheol-won, former Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul and a close aide to Mayor Oh, and businessman Kim, a financial supporter who was co-indicted.

These sentencing demands are identical to those sought by the special counsel team during the initial trial.

The special counsel team criticized Mayor Oh, stating, "As an influential politician, Defendant Oh is in a position to uphold the Political Funds Act more than anyone else. He had opinion poll expenses closely related to political activities paid for by a third party without going through legitimate procedures."

They further pointed out, "He undermined public trust in the rule of law, and despite being the ultimate beneficiary of the crime, he has denied the allegations and shirked responsibility throughout the investigation and trial process, making severe punishment inevitable."

Regarding former Deputy Mayor Kang, the team stated that "as a closest aide to Oh and in a key position overseeing overall campaign activities, he was responsible for critical communication in executing the crime." As for businessman Kim, they criticized him for "undermining the fairness of the political process by instead paying the opinion poll costs that Oh's side should have borne."

Mayor Oh is accused of receiving opinion poll results a total of 10 times from political broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election in 2021 and having businessman Kim, known as a long-time supporter, cover 33 million won in costs on his behalf.

The first trial recognized that Mayor Oh commissioned five opinion polls from Myung and had Kim pay 21 million won of the costs on his behalf, sentencing Mayor Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordering a forfeiture of 21 million won.

This corresponds to a sentence that would strip him of his mayoral office.

Under the Political Funds Act, if a person is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more, they are barred from taking or being appointed to public office for five years after the sentence is finalized, and if already appointed or holding office, they must step down.

In the first trial, former Deputy Mayor Kang was fined 3 million won, and businessman Kim was fined 5 million won.

Meanwhile, during the final hearing, regarding the dispatch of prosecutors from the Public Prosecution Office to the special counsel team, the court requested, "Since the law does not seem to make this explicitly clear, the Special Assistant Counsel should primarily handle oral arguments."

This came with the explanation that because the revised Criminal Procedure Act took effect on that day, changing the primary affiliation of dispatched prosecutors from the Prosecutors' Office to the Public Prosecution Office, it remains uncertain whether existing dispatch orders remain valid.

The Special Assistant Counsel, who does not hold a dispatched status, responded, "I will present oral arguments directly as much as possible."

Previously, Criminal Division 36 of the same court (Presiding Judge Lee Jung-yeop), which is handling the trial regarding allegations of illegal diversion of the presidential residence relocation budget involving former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and others, also suspended court proceedings, stating, "If a conclusion is reached that a new dispatch order is required in the future, the procedures could become void."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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