[Anchor]
The appellate court ruling for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was indicted over allegations that his opinion poll costs were covertly paid by a benefactor in connection with Myung Tae-kyun, will be broadcast live this afternoon (October 23). If the sentence stripping him of his mayoral position, handed down in the first trial, is finalized by the Supreme Court, Mayor Oh will lose his office and his eligibility to run in the next presidential election will be wiped out.
Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the details.
[Reporter]
The appellate sentencing hearing for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon over the alleged proxy payment of opinion poll expenses involving Myung Tae-kyun will be held at 2:00 PM today at the Seoul High Court.
Unlike the first trial, today's hearing is scheduled to be broadcast live in real time.
Mayor Oh was indicted on charges of commissioning opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having a benefactor, Kim Han-jung, pay the costs on his behalf.
The first trial concluded that Mayor Oh had commissioned five out of ten opinion polls and that Kim had proxy-paid 21 million won in costs, sentencing him to a fine of 10 million won along with an additional collection of 21 million won.
The core issue in the appeal is a recorded phone call between Kim and Myung from March 2021, which Kim submitted belatedly.
The recording contains statements where Kim says, "I did it because I wanted to help, and Mayor Oh didn't ask for it," alongside Myung's response to the effect that "Mayor Oh doesn't know much about it either."
Based on this, Mayor Oh's legal team argued his innocence, claiming that the true reality of the case was that Kim commissioned the polls and paid for them without Mayor Oh's knowledge.
[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul (October 2): The truth always comes to light. Please watch and see.]
On the other hand, the special counsel countered that "this is selective evidence where Kim belatedly cherry-picked only the recordings favorable to Mayor Oh," demanding a prison sentence of one year and six months and an additional collection of 33 million won, matching the demand from the first trial.
Myung also submitted a written statement to the court to the effect that "when Myung said Mayor Oh did not know, he was referring to the unification strategy, not the opinion polls."
If a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Political Funds Act is finalized by the Supreme Court, Mayor Oh will lose his mayoral seat and be barred from running in the next presidential election.
(Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.