Prosecutors Summon Mother and Son from Saengtaetang Restaurant in Connection with 'Oh Se-hoon Naegok-dong Land Allegation'

On the 16th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the People Power Party-Seoul Metropolitan Government Budget Policy Council held at the Seoul City Hall main building in Jung-gu, Seoul, and delivered a greeting. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution recently summoned and investigated the owner and son of a saengtaetang (spicy fish stew) restaurant, known as witnesses, regarding allegations of false information disclosure about Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's 'Naegok-dong land.'

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Kyung-geun) recently summoned and questioned the father and son of the saengtaetang restaurant who claimed to have witnessed Mayor Oh visiting the surveying site of his in-laws' land in Naegok-dong.

They appeared on the program "Kim Eo-jun's News Factory" during the Seoul mayoral by-election in April and said that in 2005, Mayor Oh participated in the surveying of his in-laws' land in Naegok-dong and then stopped by their restaurant. They also claimed that Mayor Oh was wearing white cotton pants and Ferragamo shoes at that time.

The prosecution also summoned a campaign official who was in charge of overall strategy during the last election to investigate related matters.

Earlier, the Democratic Party of Korea raised suspicions during the Seoul mayoral by-election campaign that Mayor Oh was involved in designating his in-laws' land as a public housing district in 2009 when he was mayor and received a 'self-compensation' of 3.6 billion won. When Mayor Oh denied this, the Democratic Party reported him to the prosecution for false information disclosure.

The statute of limitations for this case ends in early next month. Accordingly, the prosecution is expected to soon investigate Mayor Oh and decide on the direction of judicial action.