Special counsel seeks 18-month sentence for Seoul mayor

Special counsel prosecutors on Wednesday sought an 18-month prison sentence and forfeiture of 33 million won for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, accusing him of having a political supporter pay for opinion polls conducted during the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election.

The special counsel team investigating former First Lady Kim Keon Hee, led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki, made the request during closing arguments at the Seoul Central District Court, where Oh is standing trial on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.

“As a prominent political figure, the defendant was expected to uphold the Political Funds Act more strictly than anyone,” prosecutors said. “Instead, he had a third party cover the cost of opinion polls directly tied to his political activities without following legally required procedures, undermining the transparency that the law is designed to protect.”

Prosecutors said Oh had undermined public trust and damaged the integrity of the political finance system. They argued that his continued denial of wrongdoing throughout the investigation and trial justified a stiff sentence. The special counsel team also sought one-year prison terms for former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won and businessman Kim Han-jung, an Oh supporter charged in the same case.

According to prosecutors, Oh and Kang arranged for 10 opinion polls to be conducted by political broker Myung Tae-kyun in January and February 2021 ahead of the Seoul mayoral by-election. They allege that Kim paid a total of 33 million won for the surveys in five separate payments on Oh's behalf.

In his final statement, Oh rejected the charges outright, calling the case “a deeply unethical and politically motivated prosecution timed to coincide with the election season, based on a scenario written by Myung Tae-kyun and staged by the special counsel.”

Oh said prosecutors had ample opportunity to question both him and Myung before the change in government but failed to do so. He contended that the case was transferred to the special counsel while the investigation remained unfinished in a bid to ruin him politically.

“The unfinished case was handed over to the special counsel because they wanted to bring down Oh Se-hoon, whom they saw as the biggest obstacle to President Lee Jae-myung and his political camp,” he said.

Oh also said Lee faces numerous criminal allegations and would face “a nightmare-like retirement” if his political allies failed to remain in power. The court is scheduled to deliver its first ruling at 2 p.m. on July 22.


여근호 기자 yeoroot@donga.com