Acquittal revives Seoul mayor's presidential prospects
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s acquittal Friday gives him an opportunity to turn his legal victory into greater influence within the conservative opposition, easing a threat to his tenure that had overshadowed his fifth term and constrained his presidential prospects. The Seoul High Court reversed a July ruling that fined Oh 10 million won ($7,500) and ordered him to forfeit 21 million won — a sentence…
An appeals court is scheduled to deliver a verdict on Friday regarding Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's trial in a politically charged funds case. The controversy centers around opinion polls Oh allegedly received ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election. If the Seoul High Court confirms his conviction from a lower court and the decision is upheld on appeal, Oh will forfeit his position as mayor after securing a fifth term in June.
The Political Funds Act stipulates that elected officials lose their seats if they receive a finalized fine of 1 million won or face more severe penalties for improperly accepting political funds. Oh's sentencing hearing, set to air live at 2 p.m., centers on allegations that a political ally provided 33 million won for opinion polls on ten occasions from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun prior to the 2021 election.
A lower court imposed a 10 million won fine in July after partially recognizing the charges, ruling that Oh had solicited opinion polls from Myung five times, with his supporter contributing 21 million won to the power broker.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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