'Acquitted on appeal,' Oh Sehoon: "I'll work even harder to repay you"... Special Counsel: "Disappointing ruling; we will appeal to the Supreme Court" (Updated)

Appeals court: "Myung Taekyun's testimony lacks credibility"
Oh smiles after verdict... gets tearful while giving his response
Special counsel: "We did not indict him based solely on Myung Taekyun's testimony"

Oh Sehoon, mayor of Seoul, who was indicted over allegations that he had someone else pay for opinion polls commissioned from Myung Taekyun, was acquitted on appeal. After being spared the loss of his mayoral position, Oh said through tears, "I am grateful to the people who believed in my innocence." The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki said the ruling was "very disappointing" and announced that it would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon speaks about the acquittal after the appellate court's ruling in the alleged poll-payment case involving Myung Taekyun at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. Yonhap News.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Judge Gu Hoegeun, overturned the guilty portion of the lower court's ruling on Oct. 23, which had sentenced Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordered him to forfeit 21 million won on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, and acquitted him. Kang Cheolwon, a former Seoul deputy mayor for political affairs, and businessman Kim Hanjeong, who were indicted alongside Oh, were also acquitted. The court dismissed the special counsel's appeal against the acquittals in the lower court's ruling.

Oh was indicted on charges that, ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, he commissioned 10 opinion polls from Myung and had his supporter Kim pay 33 million won for them. In the first trial, the court found him guilty in connection with five of the polls and 21 million won in payments made on his behalf.

The key difference between the first- and second-instance rulings was how much of Myung's testimony could be trusted. The first-instance court also acknowledged that Myung's testimony was inconsistent and that he could reconstruct the facts to his own advantage. However, it found his testimony credible regarding some of the charges, citing KakaoTalk conversations from the time, media reports, meetings between Myung and members of Oh's campaign, and records showing that poll results were shared with the campaign.

The appeals court, by contrast, held that if circumstances emerged that made important parts of a witness's testimony difficult to trust, sufficient grounds or corroborating evidence were needed to use only some of the remaining testimony as evidence of guilt. The court said, "It is difficult to conclude that there were sufficient grounds to trust only some of Myung's testimony, or that sufficient other evidence was presented to corroborate it."

The court noted that it was difficult to distinguish between facts Myung had personally experienced and his speculation or exaggeration, and that he tended to say he could not remember unfavorable matters or reinterpret his previous statements to his own advantage. It also found that many parts of his testimony conflicted with objective evidence or statements from people around him. The court further considered the fact that he began giving detailed testimony about the allegations only after Oh announced plans to file a complaint.

The court also noted that Mirae Korea Research Institute conducted its own opinion polls and shared the results of surveys on the Seoul and Busan mayoral elections with former lawmakers Kim Jongin and Ji Sangwook, among others. It concluded that Myung may have used the polls not at Oh's request, but as a way to showcase his own political abilities and strengthen his position.

The court also found insufficient evidence that Kim had been asked to pay the costs on someone else's behalf. It cited the fact that Kim obtained Myung's contact information through former deputy mayor Kang, not Oh, and that Kim transferred the money to a bank account, with some payments including value-added tax. The court also said it was difficult to conclude that the money Kim paid corresponded to the cost of each individual poll.

The court acknowledged that Oh's side and Myung met and shared poll results, and that Kim paid money, but said these isolated facts alone were insufficient to establish the charges. It added, "If the prosecution's evidence is insufficient, then even if there are suspicions of guilt, the judgment must ultimately be made in the defendant's favor." The court stressed that this is "a longstanding fundamental principle of criminal law, intended to prevent people from being unjustly punished as a result of investigations and prosecutions by investigative agencies."

Oh listens to verdict with fists clenched...smiles after acquittal

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon listens to the court read its ruling at the appellate sentencing hearing on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on the 23rd. Provided by the Seoul High Court. Yonhap News Agency.

Oh entered the courtroom with a tense expression and sat in the defendant's seat with his eyes closed until the trial began. During the 16 minutes it took to read the verdict, he stood with his fists tightly clenched and stared straight ahead. When the ruling was over, he smiled, shook hands with his legal team, and thanked his supporters.

Oh also became tearful as he spoke after the verdict. "I am truly sorry and regret that I had to appear before prosecutors and the court," he said. "I sincerely thank the people of Seoul for believing in my innocence and voting to give me the opportunity to serve again as mayor of Seoul. I will work even harder to repay you."

The special counsel team led by Min Joong-ki, meanwhile, said it was "very disappointed" and would appeal the ruling. After the verdict, Deputy Special Counsel Park Nosu told reporters, "This is a ruling that is difficult to accept," adding, "We did not indict him solely because we believed Myung's testimony."

Park claimed that the court did not mention key evidence during its reading of the verdict, including conversations in which a member of Oh's campaign referred to the commissioning of opinion polls. Regarding a recording submitted by Kim during the appeals trial, Park also said, "The court selectively chose only the parts favorable to the defendants and used them as grounds for acquittal." If the special counsel team appeals, the case will go to the Supreme Court for a final ruling.

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