"A Chance to Reveal the Truth, Will Actively Cooperate"
Prosecution Confirms All Documents Through Search and Seizure
Mayor Oh Also Submits Mobile Phones and Cooperates
Investigation Expected to Conclude After Final Fact-Checking
The possibility of summoning Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who is suspected of having someone else pay for the public opinion survey costs related to 'political broker' Myeong Tae-gyun, has increased. This follows the prosecution's consecutive summons and investigations of Mayor Oh's close aides and supporter Kim Han-jung, as well as the completion of a search and seizure of the mayor's office. Mayor Oh's side expects the investigation to conclude once the prosecution summons him for verification.
According to Seoul City on the 21st, during the search and seizure on the 20th, the prosecution examined all documents, items, and information created or transmitted around the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and after September 1 of last year, when the 'Myeong Tae-gyun Gate' began.
Mayor Oh submitted mobile phones he had used in the past or is currently using and actively cooperated with forensic examinations of his office PC and tablet for a swift investigation. A key Seoul City official said, "(The Myeong side's) claims about schedules and meetings are an opportunity to clearly reveal the facts, and this is to cooperate with the prosecution's investigation."
Internally, Mayor Oh is reportedly preparing for a summons investigation. Having already announced that he would actively respond to multiple summons notifications from the prosecution, he plans to directly state his position on matters not confirmed through investigations of his aides. The core issues are whether the public opinion surveys conducted by Myeong's side were delivered to Mayor Oh's camp and whether Mayor Oh was aware that Kim gave money to Myeong. Mayor Oh said, "This is the final step in the prosecution's investigation to conclude the case," and added, "I am waiting to be investigated as soon as possible."
Seoul City is also refuting point by point the matters confirmed by the prosecution during the search and seizure. Regarding reports that the investigation team secured records of Myeong exchanging public opinion survey questionnaires for the Seoul mayoral by-election with former Deputy Mayor Kang Cheol-won on January 25, 2021, the city stated, "As explained several times, after January 20, 2021, Deputy Mayor Kang analyzed Myeong's initial sample public opinion survey data and rejected it as unreliable." Mayor Oh's side claims that for this reason, Kang and Myeong met directly in February of the same year, quarreled, and severed ties.
The eight mobile phones submitted by Mayor Oh during the search and seizure were confirmed to include all phones he had used in the past or is currently using. Although it was once mistakenly reported that he was currently using eight mobile phones, Mayor Oh said, "I have only one phone number. Over more than ten years, I have kept all the mobile phones I used without discarding any," and added, "As a promise to myself to act transparently and honorably in any case, I did not discard any and submitted them all to the prosecution."
Furthermore, Mayor Oh argued that the allegations of violating the Political Funds Act cannot be established. He claimed that the Mirae Korea Research Institute, operated by Myeong, was an unqualified illegal organization. Mayor Oh said, "An unqualified illegal organization is not authorized to conduct public opinion surveys, whether published or unpublished," and added, "Therefore, spending political funds there itself cannot be established as a violation." He further explained, "Thus, even if Kim Han-jung paid any compensation, it cannot be considered a violation of the Political Funds Act, and rather, it was revealed yesterday that he was defrauded, which I informed the investigative authorities about."
Seoul City, which was once unsettled due to the search and seizure, is now in a calm atmosphere. Mayor Oh is reportedly repeatedly urging his aides to "comfort and take good care of the staff."
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