Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, appeared at the first-trial sentencing hearing on the 17th over the "Myung Tae-gyun poll expense payment allegation" and said it was "the worst election-driven indictment, politically heavily tainted, that flipped the real criminal and the wronged victim completely upside down."
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 22 (presiding judge Cho Hyung-woo, Director General judge) held a sentencing hearing that day on charges of violating the Political Funds Act by the mayor and others. The mayor was indicted on suspicion of commissioning an opinion poll from "political broker" Myung Tae-gyun and having someone else pay the expense.
Min Joong-ki's special counsel team will ask the court for the sentence to be imposed on the mayor. The mayor said, "From beginning to end, it was an order-from-above investigation that moved according to a fixed script, an order-from-above special counsel driven by political aims, and an order-from-above indictment specially devised to match the local election schedule," adding, "The sentencing recommendation will likewise be nothing more than an order-from-above recommendation in the same vein as that scheme."
Regarding the "poll expense payment allegation," the mayor said, "I filed complaints against Myung Tae-gyun and others asking to uncover the substance of the case, but prosecutors and the special counsel instead turned me into a defendant and put me on trial," adding, "During the proceedings, Myung Tae-gyun's group confessed dozens of times that they fabricated a non-disclosed poll, but the investigative authorities are not making progress in investigating them."
He added, "This lukewarm approach to the investigation is also intended to influence the outcome of this trial," and said, "Such conduct—abusing judicial power for political ends and trying to ruin a political career—deserves condemnation."
The mayor said, "In the course of the investigation, I voluntarily submitted even the cell phones I used in the past and have faced this confidently, and I am convinced that the substantive truth will be clearly revealed through the judiciary's wise and just judgment," adding, "I will remain steadfast to the end so I can devote all my energy only to the future of Seoul's citizens and the future of the Republic of Korea."
The People Power Party convened an emergency Supreme Council meeting on the afternoon of the 15th and decided to file election contests for six areas—Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Gwangju–South Jeolla, Ulsan, and Busan—where ballot shortages occurred during the June 3 local elections. Some within the party argue the move is inappropriate. The People Power Party will hold a general meeting of its lawmakers that day to discuss the fate of leader Jang Dong-hyeok and the election contests.
In response to related questions, the mayor said, "Jang Dong-hyeok's leadership has already run its course. Its leadership has suffered a decisive blow," adding, "I hope the general meeting of lawmakers fully debates Jang Dong-hyeok's leadership and the point that this call for a rerun is a tactical slogan aimed at bolstering his political standing."