Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 3rd said, "As the trial proceeds, the essence of this case is being revealed," adding, "From the start, it was a tailor-made fabricated indictment and an indictment defending criminals."
That morning, before appearing for the first trial hearing of the alleged proxy payment for opinion poll fees at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the mayor posted a message on social media (SNS) titled "The fraudulent crime is being exposed," and said as much.
The mayor said, "Kim Young-seon took the position in the early stage of the investigation that he knew little about this case," adding, "But during the investigation, it was revealed that, through the prosecutors' mediation, he received a 'guide' from Myung Tae-gyun."
He went on, "After that, Kim Young-seon changed all of his prior statements and is following Myung Tae-gyun's claims," adding, "It is a clear case of matching stories."
The mayor also said, "The opinion polls that the Myung Tae-gyun group is said to have produced were all fabricated, and it is being confirmed one after another through confessions and evidence that the Oh Se-hoon camp neither received nor used them," adding, "It is devastating that we have to waste this precious time entangled with a fraud ring. Now, with today's trial, the full picture of the fraudulent crime will be revealed."
He added, "The Myung Tae-gyun fraud ring that orchestrated all of this and Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki will surely pay the price."
The mayor is under suspicion of violating the Political Funds Act. Ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, he is accused of receiving opinion poll results from a person surnamed Myung on 10 occasions in total and having a donor shoulder the expense in his stead. However, the mayor's position is that there was no reason to commission opinion polls to the person surnamed Myung, and that the donor's expense burden is unrelated to him.