"Requesting a Poll While Crying? Nonsense"... The Court's Reasoning

[Anchor]

Myung Tae-gyun's "mouth," which previously drove a guilty verdict for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the first trial, became the core basis for producing the exact opposite result in the second trial. The court systematically refuted Myung's claims, stating that it defies common sense to suggest Mayor Oh cried while requesting opinion polls and even mentioned the issue of covering the costs.

Reporter Kim Minjun has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding suspicions of "covering opinion poll costs," Myung Tae-gyun has consistently claimed that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was the one who commissioned the polls.

[Myung Tae-gyun (April of last year): I came all the way from Changwon to Seoul to catch Oh Se-hoon.]

[Myung Tae-gyun (November of last year): Someone must have ordered it, someone must have connected us. That person is Oh Se-hoon.]

Myung's statements and court testimony were the only direct evidence concerning whether Mayor Oh actually commissioned the polls and instructed a supporter to pay the costs, but the appellate court ruled them lacking in credibility.

The court determined that Myung's statements lacked consistency and contradicted objective circumstances as well as surrounding testimonies.

To begin with, the court rejected Myung's claim that Mayor Oh "called while crying" when first commissioning the polls.

[Goo Hoe-keun / Presiding Judge, Criminal Division 7, Seoul High Court: It is difficult to accept as a matter of common sense that someone would request opinion polls—without any prior information and even mentioning the issue of shouldering illegal costs—while crying.]

The court also took into account the fact that Myung, who initially did not mention suspicions related to Mayor Oh, made public remarks hinting at how he would frame him after Mayor Oh expressed intent to file a complaint.

The court pointed out that it defies common sense for Mayor Oh to blatantly and directly request a supporter to cover illegal costs, and for this process to be carried out via bank transfer.

The court stated it suspects that Myung conducted opinion polls on his own initiative without Mayor Oh's commission to showcase his political clout to the leadership of the People Power Party at the time.

The court concluded that while suspicions of guilt remain—such as Myung meeting Mayor Oh and sharing poll results—if the proof of charges is insufficient, decisions must be made in favor of the defendant.

(Camera Reporter: Kim Se-kyung | Video Editor: Lee Hong-myung | Designer: Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.