KORSeoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has maintained his innocence, claiming that the special counsel conducted a "political investigation" without any direct evidence. However, the court ruled today (July 22) that there is sufficient recognition of the circumstances that Mayor Oh commissioned public opinion polls and had them paid for by proxy.
Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong reports on the court's reasoning.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has repeatedly emphasized, both throughout the investigation and the trial, that he never commissioned public opinion polls from Myung Tae-kyun nor had anyone else cover the costs.
[Oh Se-hoon / Seoul Mayor (in March): These people are a fraudulent criminal group. Myung Tae-kyun is a recruiter or operative scouting targets for fraud....]
However, the court determined that Mayor Oh, who was facing an intra-party primary at the time, had a sufficient motive to commission polls from Myung.
The court noted that poll results showing rival candidate Na Kyung-won ahead were being released, and with women's bonus points applied to the main primary, Mayor Oh had an incentive to showcase public support as his strong point.
[Cho Hyung-woo / Presiding Judge, Criminal Settlement Division 22, Seoul Central District Court: His political standing was somewhat diminished. Because it was decided that the main primary would be conducted 100% through a public opinion poll of ordinary citizens, he would have strongly felt the need for polls intended for publication as well.]
The court also cited as grounds for conviction the fact that Mayor Oh first contacted Myung to listen to explanations on election strategies; that Myung, who had been unable to conduct polls for a month due to financial issues, carried out a poll two days after meeting Mayor Oh; and that supporter Kim Han-jung transferred a large sum of money to Myung despite having almost no personal acquaintance with him.
[Cho Hyung-woo / Presiding Judge, Criminal Settlement Division 22, Seoul Central District Court: Regarding the (five) polls, the facts of commissioning and proxy payment are recognized.]
The court also paid attention to the fact that Mayor Oh's side and Myung had a major dispute when unfavorable poll results came out, though it concluded that the other five polls could not be conclusively defined as having been commissioned by Mayor Oh.
At the same time, the court pointed out regarding Mayor Oh that "the nature of the crime is grave, as he covertly concealed the act of commissioning the polls and the process of paying the costs."
[Cho Hyung-woo / Presiding Judge, Criminal Settlement Division 22, Seoul Central District Court: For the defendant, sentencing to a punishment that results in the loss of eligibility for public office corresponding to his criminal responsibility is inevitable.]
The court stated, however, that it reflected in its sentencing factors such as the fact that the crime in this case took place during the intra-party primary for the Seoul mayoral candidacy and that Mayor Oh did not continue his relationship with Myung afterward.
(Video Editing: Kim Jong-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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