O Se-hoon’s Side: "No Public Opinion Poll Assistance or Financial Transactions with Myeong Tae-gyun" (Comprehensive)

"Myung Taekyun and Kang Hye-kyung continue false claims
Must reveal to whom the poll data was provided"
"Unverified information reported as fact"

The office of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated that they neither received any public opinion polls nor engaged in any financial transactions related to the involvement allegations of political broker Myung Tae-gyun during the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election.

On the 21st, Lee Jong-hyun, Seoul City’s Public Communication Special Advisor, said, "At that time, the Oh Se-hoon candidate’s campaign did not receive or view any public opinion polls related to Mr. Myung, whether published or unpublished, except for the materials explained during the initial visit." He added, "There was a conflict between Mr. Myung and the campaign staff during his initial visit to the campaign office, and after that, the election headquarters did not have any contact with him."

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

Regarding reports of financial transactions related to Mr. Myung’s public opinion polls, he said, "The Oh candidate’s campaign has never engaged in any financial transactions." He further explained, "Regarding reports that Kim, an acquaintance of the candidate, conducted transactions with Mr. Myung, neither the candidate nor anyone in the campaign staff was aware of this. What happened between Mr. Myung and Mr. Kim and what transactions took place will be revealed through future prosecution investigations."

He also stated, "The claim that the raw data of Mr. Myung’s public opinion polls was handed over to the candidate’s side is a clear falsehood." He explained, "At that time, the method for unifying the Seoul mayoral candidates was a 100% random national public opinion poll, and the polling institutions were selected through a mutual verification process." He added, "The claim that the data was delivered to be used as an analysis of the respondents’ tendencies, as reported by the media, is a logically inconsistent distortion."

The special advisor said, "The claim that Mr. Myung orchestrated the unification process is also an absurd lie." He explained, "The unification process at that time involved both campaign teams forming negotiation teams and fiercely negotiating the unification rules. It was a structure where no single person could orchestrate the process or where external manipulation could intervene."

Myeong Tae-gyun, a key figure in the allegations of Kim Geon-hee's involvement in candidate selection and the illegal opinion poll by the Mirae Korea Research Institute, is seen leaving the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in Seongsan-gu, Changwon-si, Gyeongnam Province on the afternoon of the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News

He also urged, "Mr. Myung and Mr. Kang continue to make 'false claims,' and they should clearly disclose to whom the 2021 Seoul mayoral election public opinion poll results were provided."

Regarding reports that Mr. Myung accompanied Mayor Oh during a recording schedule when he appeared on a YouTube channel in March 2021, the special advisor said, "Mr. Myung was not on the list of companions at that time," and criticized, "The article reporting this as fact based on the writer’s speculation seriously damages an individual’s reputation."

He added, "We will consider legal action against reports that cause public confusion and damage personal reputation by reporting unverified information and unilateral speculation and claims as facts."