{
  "id": 16132674,
  "title": "Appeals court to rule on Seoul mayor's high-stakes political funds trial",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/appeals-court-to-rule-on-seoul-mayors-high-stakes-political-funds-16132674",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-23T01:07:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/politics/20261023/appeals-court-to-rule-on-seoul-mayors-high-stakes-political-funds-trial"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "An appeals court was set to rule Friday on Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's trial in a high-stakes political funds case stemming from opinion polls he allegedly received ahead of the 2021 mayoral by-election. If the Seoul High Court upholds his conviction by a lower court and the ruling is finalized through appeal, Oh will lose his mayorship after being elected into office for a fifth term in June. Under…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yonhap News",
        "title": "Appeals court to rule on Seoul mayor's high-stakes political funds trial",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/appeals-court-to-rule-on-seoul-mayors-high-stakes-political-funds-16132150",
        "published": "2026-10-23T00:01:20.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}