Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, center, attends a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, Wednesday. He was sentenced to pay 10 million won ($6,760) for receiving opinion polls from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a sponsor cover the costs. Joint Press Corps
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was convicted Wednesday of violating the Political Funds Act and fined 10 million won ($6,760) over opinion polls conducted by political broker Myung Tae-kyun.
The sentence, if upheld on appeal, would strip Oh of his mayorship, dealing a critical blow to the political career of one of the nation's most prominent conservative heavyweights. The five-term mayor said he would appeal immediately.
The Seoul Central District Court found that Oh commissioned Myung to conduct five opinion polls ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and asked businessman and longtime supporter Kim Han-jung to cover 21 million won in polling costs.
“The defendant requested his supporter to pay the polling costs,” the court said in the ruling, adding that the payment constituted an illegal political contribution under the act.
