Trials for People Power Party's Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, and Choo Kyung-ho, the Daegu mayor-elect, which had been halted for a month due to the June 3 local elections, will resume.
According to legal sources on the 7th, the Criminal Agreement Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Hyung-woo) will hold a hearing on the 10th on Mayor Oh's charge of violating the Political Funds Act. It will be the first continuation hearing in 49 days since Apr. 22.
The court had previously postponed all hearings scheduled for May to after the local elections in consideration of Mayor Oh's campaign schedule. It is seen as aimed at dispelling concerns about election interference.
On the 17th, the defendant examination and closing arguments for Mayor Oh are set to proceed. Special counsel team lead Min Joong-ki is expected to deliver the final opinion and sentencing recommendation, followed by Mayor Oh's final statement.
Mayor Oh is accused of receiving poll results a total of 10 times from political broker Myung Tae-gyun ahead of the Apr. 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having a businessperson supporter pay the expense in his stead.
Mayor Oh denies the charges. At the hearing in April, Oh's side argued, "The claim that a four-term Seoul mayor had political funds paid on his behalf through a third party to Myung, who runs an unqualified, illegal polling institute, runs counter to common sense and experience."
Choo's trial will also resume. The Criminal Agreement Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Sung-jin) will resume on the 10th the hearing of mayor-elect Choo's charge of engaging in important duties related to insurrection. Earlier, on the 13th of last month, the mayor-elect Choo personally appeared in court, and on the 28th of the same month, he did not appear at the preparatory hearing.
Earlier in April, the court said it would hold hearings once a week after the local elections for the mayor-elect Choo.
As the floor leader of the People Power Party during the Dec. 3 martial law, the mayor-elect Choo is accused of obstructing the vote to lift martial law by repeatedly changing the venue of the party caucus after receiving a request from the former president Yoon's side to cooperate with martial law.
The mayor-elect Choo denies the charges. At the first hearing in March, Choo's side argued there had been no request for cooperation from the former president Yoon and that they had not recognized the martial law in advance. They also said there is no direct evidence among the materials disclosed by the special counsel to prove the crime.