Oh Se-hoon's Recorded Call with Myung Tae-kyun Admitted as Evidence in Appeal... Legal Battle Over Acquittal Continues

Playback of Recordings Includes "Oh Se-hoon Doesn't Know"


Mayor Oh's Legal Team Asserts Key Evidence

During the appellate trial for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's case involving allegations of having third parties pay for opinion poll expenses, a recorded phone call involving political broker Myung Tae-kyun was belatedly admitted as impeaching evidence, leading to heated arguments in court.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the first trial of the second instance on charges of violating the Political Funds Act at the Seoul High Court on the 21st of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Chief Judge Koo Hoe-geun, admitted three recorded audio files submitted by businessman Kim Han-jung as evidence during the resumed hearing held on September 16, 2026.

In the recording played in court that day—which captured a March 2021 conversation between Kim Han-jung and Myung Tae-kyun—Kim could be heard stating, "I worked because I wanted to help this person," and, "They didn't even want it there; it wasn't something they requested; I just did it on my own." Myung replied, "Anyway, Oh Se-hoon doesn't know anything about this, so don't worry. I'll take care of it myself," and, "Have I ever received even a single ten-won coin from Oh Se-hoon?"

Myung also said, "I didn't really know your (Kim's) relationship with Mayor Oh," "Mayor Oh didn't directly introduce me to you," and, "It was regardless of Mayor Oh; you helped out and made it happen."

Mayor Oh's legal team emphasized that these statements are evidence showing that Kim commissioned the opinion poll from Myung entirely on his own initiative, not at the direction or request of Mayor Oh. This contradicts the indictment’s claim that Mayor Oh commissioned the opinion poll through Myung and made Kim pay for it on his behalf.

The recordings were submitted recently by Kim to the appellate judges as impeaching evidence regarding Myung’s testimony; they were not submitted during the first trial. Impeaching evidence refers to evidence introduced for the purpose of challenging or disputing the credibility of specific statements.

Kim claimed he forgot about the existence of the recording after switching his mobile phone following his call with Myung, but remembered it upon witnessing Myung giving false testimony during the appeal trial. He explained that he then recovered his old phone from his villa storage in Jeju Island and submitted to the court the three files he deemed most meaningful out of the 35 recorded calls stored on the device.

The special prosecutor’s team protested strongly. They argued, "Some of these files are not original, and there is evidence that certain files were modified around November 18, 2024, when news reports on this case began emerging," further stating, "There is a significant risk of fabrication or tampering." Additionally, they asserted, "Defendant Kim Han-jung did not discover these files belatedly; rather, he always had them and only submitted the three that favored himself, withholding the rest from the court. Accepting only selected files without the full set as evidence is inappropriate."

However, the court stated, "Under the Criminal Procedure Act, impeaching evidence should be admitted broadly," and, "Since there is no indication yet of unlawful acquisition or fabrication, the evidence will be accepted as impeaching evidence despite the special prosecutor's objection."

The court scheduled the final hearing for October 2. During this session, the special prosecutor will make sentencing recommendations, the defendant will give a final statement, and the court will announce the date of its ruling in turn.

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

In the first trial, the court found that Mayor Oh had commissioned five opinion polls through Myung and caused Kim to pay 21 million won in fees, sentencing Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordering the forfeiture of 21 million won. If a conviction for unlawful receipt of political funds with a fine of 1 million won or more is finalized, the person cannot hold or be appointed to public office for five years. If already serving, the person is required to step down.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.