The court's first ruling on the allegation that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon had public opinion poll fees paid on behalf of Myung Tae-gyun will come on the 22nd.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 22 (Presiding Judge Cho Hyeong-woo, Director General judge) will hold the first-instance sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. for Mayor Oh, former Seoul Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won, and businessman Kim Han-jung, who were indicted on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.
According to the indictment by the special counsel team on Kim Keon-hee, Mayor Oh is accused of commissioning a public opinion poll from Myung Tae-gyun's side ahead of the April 7, 2021, Seoul mayoral by-election, receiving the results, and having Kim pay the 33 million won polling fee on his behalf.
Myung's side conducted 10 rounds of polls from Jan. 22 to Feb. 28, 2021, including three for publication and seven for nonpublication. Kim was found to have made payments in five installments from Feb. 1 to Mar. 26 that year. The special counsel believes former Vice Mayor Kang, then the campaign chief of staff, handled operations by exchanging questionnaires and poll results with Myung.
The crux is whether Mayor Oh commissioned the poll or recognized and approved the expense payment, and whether there was a sequential or implicit collusion among the three regarding the proxy payment.
The special counsel cited as grounds the fact that records remained on former Vice Mayor Kang's cell phone showing downloads of the questionnaire and poll result files. Mayor Oh's side countered that there was no direct commissioning or request for payment and that Kim's payment was an independent action.
Mayor Oh's side argues that Myung's statements conflict with forensic data. Myung stated that after a phone call with Mayor Oh at about 3:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, 2021, he was commissioned to conduct the poll. But the related questionnaire had already been drafted and sent at 2:20 p.m., about an hour earlier.
They also said that in conversations among those involved at the time, the Seoul-area poll was marked as "commissioned by Kim Chong-in," and there were indications that Kim and Myung discussed the transaction separately from the campaign. They presented as grounds for acquittal the points that if calculated at the unit price Myung claimed, the expense would be 65 million won, whereas the special counsel indicted for 33 million won, and that there are no materials showing the campaign used the poll results for election strategy.
Judgments in similar cases have diverged. The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan, Director General judge) on the 13th sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to two years in prison and ordered forfeiture of about 13.96 million won. The bench found 14 of 58 instances, those delivered directly to the couple, guilty, determining that First Lady Kim Keon-hee and Myung agreed to provide polls free of charge and that Yoon, upon being informed, implicitly agreed.
By contrast, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Agreement Division 27 (Presiding Judge Woo In-seong, Director General judge) in the first trial of the first lady found it difficult to recognize prior commissioning or consultation and exclusive provision, and ruled that part not guilty. The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 15-2 (Presiding Judge Shin Jong-oh, high court judge) also maintained the same conclusion, saying it was difficult to conclude that Myung provided the polls to expand political influence and promised nomination in return. The Supreme Court Division 2 will deliver the final ruling in the first lady's case on the 24th.
The special counsel sought one year and six months in prison and forfeiture of 33 million won for Mayor Oh, and one year in prison each for former Vice Mayor Kang and Kim. If a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Political Funds Act is confirmed, Mayor Oh will lose his post. The key is how far the court will recognize the commissioning and proxy-payment collusion and whether the 33 million won constitutes political funds.