Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, who received a ruling in the first trial that would cost him his office over the so-called "Myung Tae-gyun public opinion poll expense payment suspicion," also argued not guilty in the second trial.
According to legal sources on the 21st, the defense team for Mayor Oh said at the first appeal hearing on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, held before the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 (Chief Judge Gu Hoe-geun), that "the defendant never asked Myung Tae-gyun to conduct a public opinion poll and never asked (supporter) Kim Han-jung to pay the expense."
The defense argued that Mayor Oh met Mr. Myung but decided he was not a trustworthy person and kept his distance. Kang Cheol-won, former deputy mayor for political affairs of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and a close aide to Mayor Oh, even had a dispute with Mr. Myung, they said. They added that Kim Han-jung then gave money to Mr. Myung as part of an effort to soothe and manage him.
The defense said, "The core point is that the defendant (Mayor Oh) did not know at all about supporter Kim Han-jung's independent actions," adding, "It is not true that he had the public opinion poll expense paid on his behalf."
The defense criticized the first trial court for adding unfounded inferences to some facts—that Mayor Oh had met Mr. Myung, that Mr. Myung conducted a public opinion poll related to Mayor Oh, and that Mr. Kim gave money to Mr. Myung—to reach its verdict.
In contrast, the special counsel team that indicted Mayor Oh, led by Min Joong-ki, countered, "Considering the process of conducting the poll, the polling materials confirmed on mobile phones, and content showing that Myung Tae-gyun manipulated the poll in a favorable way, it is established that Oh Se-hoon colluded with Kang Cheol-won to commission 10 public opinion polls from Myung Tae-gyun and had Kim Han-jung pay 33 million won on his behalf." They then asked the court to impose the same sentence sought in the first trial—one year and six months in prison.
The court decided to first call six people, including Kim Jong-in, former People Power Party emergency steering committee chairperson, as witnesses for examination. Kim, the former chairperson, was identified by Mayor Oh's side as the person who actually commissioned the poll from Mr. Myung. Given the court schedule, the examination of Kim as a witness is expected on the 11th of next month, with the verdict around Oct. 23. The next hearing is scheduled for the 28th.
Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 22 (Chief Judge Cho Hyeong-woo) fined Mayor Oh 10 million won on the 22nd of last month for violating the Political Funds Act. If a sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Public Official Election Act or the Political Funds Act is finalized, the right to be elected is lost for five years. Under the Local Autonomy Act, a local government head must resign upon losing the right to be elected.