Oh Se-hoon: "Myeong Tae-gyun's Claims Are All Nonsense... They Don't Add Up"

City Council Inquiry "Myeongssi, No Help Needed"
Regarding Former Chief Jo Yoon-sun's Appointment "Proper Procedure"
"Even Those Violating National Security Law Became Secretary-General"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon dismissed claims that Myung Tae-kyun, a key figure suspected of interfering in the nomination process involving President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, intervened in the recent Seoul mayoral election as "completely nonsense."

On the 18th, during a city administration question session held at the Seoul Metropolitan Council, Mayor Oh responded to a question from Seoul Councilor Park Kang-san (Democratic Party) about his relationship with Myung by saying, "Myung's claims are inconsistent," and made the remarks above.

On the 15th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the National Assembly inspection of Seoul City Hall held by the Administrative Safety Committee at Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, and responded to lawmakers' questions. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In particular, Mayor Oh said, "I was ranked first from the first public opinion poll released in November 2020, ahead of the 2021 by-election," and responded, "Myung's claim that I won the election because he helped me is wrong." He added, "He had no role to play during the election process," and "At that time, Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, believed that they would win the election even without unifying with candidate Ahn Cheol-soo."

When asked why he has not sued Myung, Mayor Oh explained, "Should we file complaints against all the opposition factions within the party who claim slander?" and "It is unreasonable to file lawsuits for all baseless accusations." Earlier, Mayor Oh had expressed his intention to take legal action such as filing a lawsuit against Myung during last month's National Assembly audit. This was in response to Myung's claims that Mayor Oh pleaded tearfully in front of him and played a key role in the Seoul mayoral election.

According to the conversation disclosed at the time, Myung said, "The day after the People Power Party's internal primary, I met with Chairman Kim Jong-in. Chairman Kim gave me the mission that 'the People Power Party candidate must become the Seoul mayor. Please make sure to defeat Ahn Cheol-soo, the then leader of the People Party.' I planned the strategy accordingly." He even claimed that Mayor Oh pleaded tearfully in front of him.

Mayor Oh immediately refuted the claims. He warned Myung, saying, "Ultimately, he will be thoroughly investigated through a prosecution investigation and pay the price." Mayor Oh said, "During the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, former lawmaker Kim Young-sun strongly urged me to meet him, but I judged him to be a strange and dangerous person and cut off relations," adding, "The claims about crying are ridiculous. The very idea of pleading in front of a political hustler I had never met is nonsense." He further criticized, "I don't know who Myung said what to, but the person he advised on unification strategy was the one who most opposed unification, which is self-contradictory," and "Mixing facts and lies to stir up trouble and set fires is a ploy to cover his own faults and divert attention elsewhere."

During the city administration question session, there was also criticism that appointing former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Cho Yoon-sun as a non-executive director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra was inappropriate. However, Mayor Oh said, "Former Minister Cho has been pardoned and reinstated," and explained, "The meaning of pardon and reinstatement is to restore qualifications that were suspended or lost so that one can lead a normal social life."

He also questioned, "If someone committed a wrongdoing and was punished, should they never engage in social activities afterward?" Mayor Oh claimed that the appointment was made following proper procedures and formalities. He also made remarks pointing to former Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, who served under the Moon Jae-in administration. When asked if the appointment of former Minister Cho could be a case of losing the forest for the trees by not considering the public's perspective, he retorted, "Isn't this a country where someone who violated the National Security Act can also serve as the presidential chief of staff?"