Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Myung Tae-kyun appeared before the Min Joong-gi Special Prosecutor Team on the 8th and underwent a face-to-face interrogation for about eight hours. Mayor Oh and Mr. Myung engaged in a dispute over the truth regarding the allegations of paying for public opinion polls.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is arriving on the 8th to be questioned at the office of the Min Joong-ki Special Investigation Team, which is investigating the allegations of illegal payment for opinion polls, located in the Seoul KT Gwanghwamun Building West. Photo by Yonhap News.
On the 8th, Mayor Oh arrived at the special prosecutor's office located at KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul, at around 8:59 a.m., followed by Mr. Myung at around 9:14 a.m. The face-to-face questioning began at approximately 9:40 a.m. and concluded at around 6:00 p.m. Mayor Oh was questioned as a suspect on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, while Mr. Myung was questioned as a reference witness.
After completing the face-to-face interrogation and before reviewing the official statement, Mr. Myung said, "Mayor Oh remains silent when evidence is presented," and added, "The special prosecutor has conducted a thorough investigation so far and possesses accurate circumstantial evidence." After finishing the review of the statement at around 8:46 p.m., Mr. Myung stated, "Many aspects were consistent with the testimony of Kang Chul-won, the former Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul," and claimed, "Although memories may differ slightly, the testimonies regarding former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun and Mr. Kim Han-jung were largely consistent."
On the other hand, Mayor Oh left the interrogation room at around 9:17 p.m. and commented, "Both sides maintained their respective positions," but also added, "Given the circumstances and the way things were discussed, I believe the special prosecutor can make a fair judgment." He further stated, "Regarding whether there was any payment on behalf of someone else, or whether the unpublished public opinion poll was manipulated, I cited an article this morning that claimed the number of poll members was greatly inflated. Both sides maintained their respective assertions on that point as well."
It is reported that during the face-to-face questioning, the special prosecutor team presented circumstances that added credibility to Mr. Myung's testimony. Mr. Myung allegedly stated that Mayor Oh called him during the by-election and said he could not pay for the public opinion poll expenses himself and was going to borrow from Mr. Kim. The special prosecutor team is said to have presented Mr. Kim's whereabouts on the day of the call in connection with this. Based on the day's investigation, the special prosecutor team is expected to determine whether there was awareness of the acceptance or payment of public opinion poll expenses and whether there was any quid pro quo involved.
Mayor Oh is suspected of having received unpublished public opinion polls from the Future Korea Research Institute 13 times during the April 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. In addition, there are allegations that Kim Han-jung, known as a supporter of Mayor Oh, paid approximately 33 million won on behalf of Mayor Oh through the bank account of Kang Hye-kyung, who was a staff member at the Future Korea Research Institute.
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