Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks to the press as he arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on the 17th for the final hearing of his first trial regarding the 'Myung Tae-kyun public opinion polling scandal.' June 17, 2026 

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who was indicted on charges of receiving public opinion poll results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun and having a supporter cover the costs, has been sentenced to a term that would result in the loss of his mayoral office in the first trial.

On the 22nd, the Seoul Central District Court's 22nd Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Cho Hyung-woo) sentenced Mayor Oh, who was tried on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, to a fine of 10 million won and an additional penalty (forfeiture) of 21 million won.

Kang Cheol-won, former Vice Mayor of Seoul for Political Affairs, and businessman Kim Han-jung, who were indicted alongside him, were sentenced to fines of 3 million won and 5 million won, respectively.

Should this sentence be upheld, Mayor Oh will lose his position.

Under the Public Official Election Act, an elected official's election is invalidated if they are sentenced to imprisonment or a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Political Funds Act.

The court found Mayor Oh guilty of receiving multiple public opinion poll results from Myung ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having Kim Han-jung, known as a long-time supporter, pay for the costs on his behalf.

Specifically, the court determined that Mayor Oh commissioned five polls from Myung, and that Kim paid 21 million won in total on his behalf.

The Special Prosecutor's team, led by Min Joong-ki, had indicted Mayor Oh on the grounds that he had commissioned 10 polls and that Kim had paid 33 million won.

The court concluded that, except for the five cases it recognized as guilty, it could not definitively conclude that Mayor Oh had commissioned the polls or that Kim had covered the costs for the remaining ones.

In explaining the sentencing, the court reprimanded Mayor Oh, stating, "Mayor Oh's commission of the polls and the payment of their costs were linked to the goal of realizing 'opinion polls in the name of a candidate,' which is prohibited by the Public Official Election Act, making the nature of the crime severe."

The court added, "Despite having served as a member of the National Assembly and as Mayor of Seoul, and thus being well-versed in the Political Funds Act, he consistently refused to accept responsibility during the trial," concluding, "A sentence that results in the loss of public office is inevitable."

Immediately after the sentencing, Mayor Oh told reporters, "I cannot accept this verdict. It was based solely on the statements of the notorious liar Myung Tae-kyun and circumstantial evidence," adding, "I will contest this in the appellate court."

Park No-soo, a special prosecutor on the team, stated, "The defendants had claimed this was a political prosecution without evidence, so this is a very meaningful verdict that proves those claims were entirely false," adding, "We will conduct a detailed analysis of the verdict before deciding whether to appeal."