The prosecution investigating allegations against political broker Myeong Tae-gyun conducted a search and seizure on the morning of the 20th at Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's official residence and Seoul City Hall office.
The dedicated investigation team for Myeong Tae-gyun's allegations at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Ji-hyung) is investigating whether the 33 million KRW transferred in five installments by businessman Kim Han-jung to Myeong between February and March of that year is related to Mayor Oh Se-hoon, ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. The investigation team is also known to have searched the residence of former Seoul Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won, in addition to Mayor Oh's office. A prosecution official stated, "There was a political funds law violation report related to the payment of public opinion survey costs during the 2021 by-election, and we executed the search warrants issued by the court accordingly."
The prosecution suspects businessman Kim Han-jung to be a supporter of Mayor Oh. Myeong Tae-gyun conducted 13 unpublished opinion polls related to Mayor Oh through his public opinion research company, Mirae Hanguk Research Institute, before the by-election. It is suspected that the 33 million KRW transferred by Kim was used to cover the costs of these opinion polls.
Earlier, on February 26, the prosecution searched Kim's residences in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and Seogwipo, Jeju Island, as well as his office in Yeouido, Seoul. Kim was interrogated three times as a suspect. Subsequently, accounting staff Kang Hye-kyung and others were summoned for questioning, and former Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Kang Cheol-won and Political Special Advisor Park Chan-gu, close aides of Mayor Oh, were called in as witnesses. Myeong Tae-gyun's side claims that he assisted Mayor Oh.
Meanwhile, Mayor Oh's side has filed defamation lawsuits against Myeong and related parties, calling the allegations "political slander." They maintain that they never received any unpublished opinion polls from Myeong during the 2021 by-election. Since they did not benefit from Myeong's "fraudulent and manipulated unpublished opinion polls," they deny any suspicion of Mayor Oh's public opinion survey cost payment.
Regarding reports that Mayor Oh, Myeong, and Kim held a "three-party meeting," Mayor Oh stated, "I firmly stated several times that after pointing out the problems with Myeong Tae-gyun's test first opinion poll and dismissing him, I have not made any requests or had any discussions." He added, "I considered Myeong Tae-gyun not worth dealing with and cut ties, so there is no reason for a three-party meeting."
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