BreakingOh Se-hoon fined 10 million won, mayorship at risk if upheld
Court finds supporter illegally covered cost of survey commissioned from political broker
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, center, attends a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Wednesday. He was indicted on charges of receiving an opinion poll from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a sponsor cover the costs. Joint Press Corps
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was convicted Wednesday of violating the Political Funds Act and fined 10 million won ($6,760) over illegal payments for opinion polls commissioned from political broker Myung Tae-kyun.
The Seoul Central District Court found that Oh commissioned Myung to conduct a nonpublic opinion poll ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and asked businessman and longtime supporter Kim Han-jung to cover 10 million won ($6,760) cost.
Rejecting Oh’s defense, the court said “the defendant requested his supporter to pay the polling costs,” adding that the payment constituted an illegal political contribution under the act.
The ruling marks a major legal setback for one of the country’s most prominent conservative politicians and could cast uncertainty over Oh’s political future.
The verdict is not final and is expected to be appealed. Under Korean law, elected officials lose their office only if a fine of at least 1 million won or a prison sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court.
Oh had denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial, arguing that he never requested the payment and was unaware that Kim had covered the survey cost.
Prosecutors, however, argued that the payment was made at Oh’s request in exchange for polling conducted by Myung, who later emerged as a central figure in a series of political influence-peddling allegations.
The court sided with the prosecution on the key factual disputes, finding that Oh had requested the nonpublic poll, asked Kim to pay for it and that the 10 million won transferred by Kim was intended to cover the polling cost.
Oh was indicted in December 2025 on charges of violating the Political Funds Act over allegations tied to the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election.
Prosecutors said he received the results of 10 opinion polls conducted by political broker Myung and had his Oh's longtime supporter, businessman Kim, cover 33 million won ($22,300) in polling costs.
Kang Cheol-won, who served as Oh’s campaign chief of staff and later as Seoul’s deputy mayor for political affairs, was indicted alongside him. Prosecutors alleged Kang communicated with Myung’s side, exchanged survey questions and helped coordinate the polling, while Kim made five payments to accounts linked to the polling firm Future Korea Research Institute.
The special counsel sought a prison term of one year and six months for Oh, along with forfeiture of the 33 million won. It also requested one-year prison terms for Kang and Kim.
Prosecutors argued that the three acted as part of a single arrangement in which polls were commissioned for Oh’s campaign and paid for by a third party, amounting to an illegal political contribution.
The ruling centered on two questions: whether Oh actually asked Myung to conduct the polls and whether he knew about or approved Kim’s payments.
According to prosecutors, Myung testified that Oh told him he needed a poll showing he could beat former lawmaker Na Kyung-won in the party primary and later directed him to work with Kang on the details.
The defense denied the allegations, saying Oh never commissioned any polls or asking Kim to pay for them. His lawyer said there was no record of direct contact, no clear record of discussions over survey questions or samples and no evidence showing that Oh reviewed the results or offered feedback.
The defense also argued that some surveys had already been prepared before the time Myung claimed Oh had requested them.
The ruling came after courts reached differing conclusions in other cases involving Myung.
Earlier this month, former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to two years in prison after a court found that Yoon and Myung had reached an implicit agreement over the repeated provision of free opinion polls.
Prosecutors later submitted that ruling to Oh’s court, arguing that the same reasoning should apply.
Former first lady Kim Keon Hee, however, was acquitted at both her first and second trials on the related Political Funds Act charge. Those courts found that prosecutors had failed to prove she commissioned the surveys, with the appeals court saying Myung may have conducted and delivered them on his own initiative to expand his political influence.