Special Counsel Appeals Oh Sehoon's Acquittal in Political Funds Act Case: "Objective Evidence Rejected, Facts Misjudged"

1st Trial: 10 Million Won Fine -> Acquitted on Appeal
"Myung Taegyun's Testimony Corroborated by Objective Evidence"
"Court Reviewed Only Selected Recordings... Unlawful"
Also Points to Factual Error Over When They First Met

The special counsel team led by Special Prosecutor Min Joongki, which is investigating allegations involving Kim Keon Hee, has appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the appellate court's acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon, who was indicted on charges of having a supporter pay for opinion polls conducted by political broker Myung Taegyun.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks about his acquittal after the appellate court hearing in the case involving alleged payments for opinion polls on behalf of Myung Tae-gyun, at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. Yonhap News.

On October 30, the special counsel team said, "We filed a notice of appeal with the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Judge Gu Hoeguen, against the appellate ruling in the case involving Mayor Oh, former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheolwon, and businessman Kim Hanjeong, who were charged with violating the Political Funds Act."

The special counsel team argued that, even if some of Myung's testimony could not be taken at face value, his key statements directly related to the charges were sufficiently supported by objective evidence and circumstances. It cited records showing that Mayor Oh contacted Myung, circumstances indicating that former Deputy Mayor Kang continued to receive survey questionnaires and results, and messages exchanged by members of Mayor Oh's campaign team.

The special counsel team also said there was sufficient basis to find that Mayor Oh commissioned the opinion polls from Myung and asked Kim to pay for them. It pointed out that Kim paid 10 million won despite having no particular personal relationship with Myung, and that Kim himself did not receive the poll results for a considerable time, while former Deputy Mayor Kang continued to receive the questionnaires and results.

The team also challenged audio recordings of phone calls between Kim and Myung that Kim newly submitted during the appeal. The special counsel team argued that "although Kim had dozens of recordings, he selected and submitted only six. The court overturned the first-trial ruling after assigning high evidentiary value to some of the recordings without obtaining and examining the remaining files," alleging that the court had unlawfully failed to conduct a thorough examination.

The team also pointed to errors in the appellate court's factual findings on when Mayor Oh and Myung first met. The appellate court cited the finding that the two first met on January 20, 2021, as one basis for the acquittal. The special counsel team, however, said they had first met on December 9, 2020, and had continued to contact and meet with each other afterward.

On October 23, the appellate court overturned the first-trial ruling, which had sentenced Mayor Oh to a fine of 10 million won and ordered him to forfeit 21 million won, and acquitted him. The court found it difficult to consider Myung's testimony, the key direct evidence, credible. It also ruled that the remaining evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the charges that Mayor Oh had commissioned the opinion polls and asked for someone else to pay for them.

Under the Special Prosecutor Act, cases indicted by a special counsel team are subject to the so-called "6-3-3 principle": trials must be completed within six months at the first-trial level and within three months each at the second- and third-trial levels.

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