Myung Tae-gyun Counters "Does Not Know Oh Sehoon" Recording as Referring to Unification Strategy, Not Opinion Polls

Political broker Myung Tae-gyun has countered that Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon's legal team is making a "clear misinterpretation" by citing a recorded phone call of Myung as grounds for acquittal in the trial over allegations that opinion poll costs were paid on Oh's behalf.

Myung's legal representatives submitted a written statement to the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Goo Hoe-geun), Oh's appellate court, stating that "arguing Mayor Oh had no knowledge of the opinion polls themselves based on the phone conversation is an intentional distortion of the timing and overall context."

The court had previously adopted a recorded phone conversation from March 2021 between Myung and businessman Kim Han-jung, a long-time supporter of Mayor Oh, as impeachment evidence to challenge the credibility of Myung's statements.

During the call, Myung is heard saying, "Anyway, Oh Sehoon doesn't know. He doesn't know, so don't worry. I'll handle it," and "Have I ever received a single ten-won coin from Oh Sehoon?"

Mayor Oh's legal team argues that these remarks support the claim that Kim commissioned the opinion polls to Myung on his own accord, independently of Mayor Oh.

The team maintains this contradicts the indictment, which alleges that Mayor Oh commissioned opinion polls from Myung and had Kim pay the costs on his behalf.

In his statement, Myung addressed this by claiming, "The content of that phone call was not a discussion on whether to conduct opinion polls for an internal party primary, but rather a conversation exchanging the specific details and execution process of the opposition unification strategy pursued (with then-candidate Ahn Cheol-soo) immediately after Oh Sehoon was finalized as the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul Mayor."

He emphasized, "The remark 'Oh Sehoon doesn't really know' means that candidate Oh Sehoon was not receiving minor reports on or grasping the complex unification strategy and its detailed progress devised by Myung, and it by no means signifies that candidate Oh Sehoon was completely unaware of the existence of the opinion polls themselves."

Myung further pointed out, "Interpreting this as meaning candidate Oh Sehoon was oblivious to the opinion polls themselves or that Kim Han-jung independently conducted the opinion polls regardless of candidate Oh Sehoon is a clear misinterpretation."

Mayor Oh's appellate trial is set to conclude with a final sentencing hearing on October 2.

During the session, the special counsel team's sentencing recommendations, the defendant's final remarks, and the court's announcement of the sentencing date will take place sequentially.

Mayor Oh was indicted without detention in December of last year on charges of receiving opinion poll results 10 times from Myung ahead of the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election in 2021 and having Kim, his long-time supporter, pay 33 million won in costs on his behalf.

The first-instance court recognized that Mayor Oh had commissioned five opinion polls from Myung and had Kim cover 21 million won of the costs, sentencing Mayor Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordering the forfeiture of 21 million won.

Under the Political Funds Act, if a fine of 1 million won or more is finalized for illegal political funding offenses, the individual is barred from taking office or being appointed to public office for five years, and must step down if already holding or appointed to such a position.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.