Police Send Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to Prosecution Without Detention Over 'Pi City Remarks'

Decision to Send Case for Prosecution After Written Investigation

Investigators from the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency are leaving the Seosomun 2 Building of Seoul City Hall on August 31, carrying boxes containing seized items after conducting a search and seizure of the city's Urban Planning Bureau and others. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been confirmed that the police, who investigated Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act, found grounds for suspicion and referred Mayor Oh to the prosecution.

According to the police on the 27th, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which has been investigating the case, sent Mayor Oh to the prosecution without detention on the 24th on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

The police reportedly sent a written investigation document to Mayor Oh's side on the 15th and received a response on the 22nd, the last day of the Chuseok holiday. A Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official explained, "We decided to refer the case after comprehensively analyzing the materials, collected evidence, and precedents."

Earlier, the civic group Minsheng Economy Research Institute filed a complaint in April accusing Mayor Oh of spreading false information in relation to his statement during a TV debate in the by-election, where he said, "The Pi City incident is unrelated to my tenure as Seoul mayor. I was not involved." They charged him with violating the Public Official Election Act.

Subsequently, the police reportedly conducted a search of the office of a department under the Seoul City Urban Planning Bureau on the 31st of last month and secured materials related to Pi City permits from 2006 to 2011.

Mayor Oh strongly opposed the police investigation, calling it a "fabricated planned investigation." Earlier this month, he held an emergency press conference and protested against the "public security police conducting illegal investigations," claiming, "Considering the excessive search and seizure and investigations violating the Criminal Procedure Act, it can only be seen as a planned investigation by the police under the Blue House's directive."