[Anchor]

The words of Myung Tae-kyun, which previously led to a guilty verdict against Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the first trial, served as the core basis for bringing about the exact opposite result in the second trial. The court ruled that Myung's statements lacked credibility, citing reasons such as his display of resentment toward Mayor Oh after his contributions went unrecognized.

Reporting by Kim Deok-hyeon.

[Reporter]

Regarding suspicions of having public opinion poll costs covered by proxy, Myung Tae-kyun has consistently maintained that the person who commissioned the polls was Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

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

[Myung Tae-kyun (November of last year): Someone must have given the order, someone must have connected us. That is Oh Se-hoon.]

Myung's statements and courtroom testimony were the only direct evidence regarding whether Mayor Oh actually commissioned the opinion polls and instructed a sponsor to cover the costs, but the appellate court ruled them to be lacking in credibility.

The court determined that Myung's statements lacked consistency and conflicted with objective circumstances and testimonies from those around him.

The court rejected even Myung's claim that Mayor Oh 'called crying' when initially commissioning the opinion polls.

[Goo Hoe-geun / Presiding Judge, Criminal Division 7, Seoul High Court: It is difficult to accept as common sense that [Mayor Oh], without any information, would mention even the issue of illegal cost burdens and commission opinion polls while crying.]

The court also took into account that Myung, who initially did not make statements regarding allegations related to Mayor Oh, publicly remarked that people should wait and see how he would implicate the mayor after Mayor Oh indicated his intention to file a complaint.

The court pointed out that it is also contrary to common sense that Mayor Oh would blatantly and directly request a sponsor to cover illegal costs and that this process would be carried out via bank transfer.

The court stated it also suspects that Myung conducted public opinion polls independently without Mayor Oh's commission in order to flaunt his political clout to the leadership of the People Power Party at the time.

The court concluded that although suspicions of guilt cannot be entirely ruled out—such as Myung meeting with Mayor Oh and opinion poll results being shared—if the proof of allegations is insufficient, judgments must be made in favor of the defendant.

(Video reporting: Kim Se-kyung | Video editing: Lee Hong-myung | Design: Kang Yoon-jung)