Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Acquitted on Appeal in Political Funds Case
The Seoul High Court overturned a lower-court conviction of Mayor Oh Se-hoon, finding insufficient evidence that he arranged for a supporter to pay for election-related opinion polls.
SEOUL — The Seoul High Court on Friday acquitted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of violating South Korea’s Political Funds Act, overturning a lower-court ruling that had threatened his tenure at City Hall.
The appellate panel said prosecutors had not presented evidence strong enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Oh commissioned election-related opinion polls and arranged for a longtime supporter to cover their cost. The court emphasized that suspicion or questions about parts of a defendant’s account cannot substitute for the rigorous proof required for a criminal conviction.
Oh was indicted in December over allegations tied to the April 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. Prosecutors accused him of receiving the results of 10 opinion polls conducted by self-described political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having businessman Kim Han-jung pay 33 million won for them through Kang Cheol-won, then Oh’s chief of staff.
In July, the Seoul Central District Court found Oh guilty in relation to five of the polls. It imposed a fine of 10 million won and ordered him to forfeit 21 million won. If a fine of at least 1 million won for illegally receiving political funds had become final, Oh could have lost his elected position.
The first court relied in part on Myung’s testimony, as well as phone records, messages and circumstances surrounding the delivery and review of polling data. The appeals court reached a different conclusion, finding that the key testimony did not provide a sufficiently reliable basis for conviction. A recording of a March 2021 call between Myung and Kim also emerged during the appellate proceedings and was used by the defense to challenge the prosecution’s account.
Special prosecutors had asked the appellate court to sentence Oh to 18 months in prison and order the forfeiture of 33 million won. Oh, who is affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party, had maintained that he neither requested the disputed payments nor knowingly received an improper political benefit.
The ruling removes the immediate legal threat to Oh’s mayoralty, although the case may continue if prosecutors appeal to the Supreme Court. The judgment also reverses the lower court’s assessment of the central evidence in a closely watched case involving campaign polling, third-party payments and the legal standard for proving an elected official received political funds.