Court: Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces disqualification after fine

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been sentenced to a fine of 10 million won (approximately $7,000) in his first trial for violating the Political Funds Act. The court also ordered the forfeiture of 21 million won. If this sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court, Oh will immediately lose his mayoral position and be disqualified from running for public office for the next five years.

The court found Oh guilty of receiving 21 million won in political funds through the illegal payment of opinion poll expenses. The charges stemmed from the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election campaign, where Oh allegedly received opinion poll results from a person named Myung and had a former Seoul City official, Kang Cheol-won, arrange for businessman Kim Han-jung to pay the costs, totaling 33 million won. The court acknowledged the payment of 21 million won for five separate opinion polls, including both publicly released and non-public results.

The court stated that the amount of funds received was "by no means small" and that "the loss of mayoral office was unavoidable" as a penalty commensurate with the defendant's guilt. Kang, the former deputy mayor, was fined 3 million won, and businessman Kim was fined 5 million won for their involvement in arranging and paying the poll expenses.

Following the verdict, Mayor Oh expressed his apologies to the public for causing concern but declared, "I cannot accept this. I will contest it in the appellate court." His legal team has announced their intention to appeal the decision immediately. Under South Korean law, any public official convicted of violating the Political Funds Act with a fine of 1 million won or more faces forfeiture of their position and a five-year ban on re-election.