Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Found Guilty in Political Funding Trial, Faces Potential Removal from Office

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been found guilty in a first-instance trial for violating the Political Funds Law. The court ruled that Oh requested a political broker to conduct opinion polls and arranged for his campaign donor to pay the 21 million won fee.

The court sentenced Oh to a fine of 10 million won, stating that the "nature of the crime is not good, and the loss of public office qualification is unavoidable." If this sentence, or a higher fine, is upheld by the Supreme Court, Oh will be forced to resign from his position as mayor. This could lead to a by-election for the mayoral seat as early as next April, depending on the timing of the Supreme Court's decision.

The central issue in the trial revolved around whether Oh had solicited the opinion polls from the broker and whether he had asked his donor to cover the costs. The court determined that Oh had initiated contact with the broker and subsequently received poll results. The payment from the donor to the broker occurred shortly after the first poll, leading the court to conclude that such an arrangement would not have happened without Oh's request.

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The nature of the crime is not good, and the loss of public office qualification is unavoidable.

Oh had argued that there was no direct evidence linking him to the illegal activity. However, the court rejected this defense, citing evidence such as Oh's team protesting unfavorable poll results and seeking to delay their release. The court also noted that the broker had manipulated sample data to reduce the gap in support between Oh and his rival, Na Kyung-won, during the preliminary election.

The court criticized Oh for leading the criminal act despite being well aware of the Political Funds Law's intent and content, and for consistently attempting to evade responsibility during the trial. Oh has stated his intention to appeal the verdict, calling it difficult to accept based solely on the testimony of the broker and circumstantial evidence.

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It is difficult to accept a guilty verdict based solely on the testimony of the liar Myung and circumstantial evidence.