Seoul Mayor Faces Removal After First-Instance Guilty Verdict in Illegal Political Donation Case

Oh Se-hoon, a heavyweight conservative politician and incumbent mayor of Seoul, South Korea, was found guilty on the 22nd by the Seoul Central District Court for violating the Political Funds Act and was fined 10 million won (approximately NT$219,000). The court ruled that Oh, ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, had commissioned political broker Myung Tae-kyun to conduct non-public opinion polls and arranged for his long-time financial backer, businessman Kim Han-jung, to pay 10 million won for the polling services—constituting illegal political donations. This first-instance ruling could severely damage South Korea's conservative political bloc. Under current law, if an elected public official is convicted in a final Supreme Court ruling of violating the Political Funds Act or the Public Official Election Act and is fined over 1 million won (approx. NT$22,000) or sentenced to imprisonment, they immediately lose their public office. This means that if Oh's conviction is ultimately upheld, he could lose his position as Seoul mayor. Oh has already expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling through his legal team and plans to appeal. On June 1, 2026, Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon campaigned on the streets of Seoul. (AP) The case was prosecuted in December 2025 by a special prosecutor team in South Korea. The special prosecution accused Oh of receiving 10 polling results from Myung Tae-kyun during the 2021 by-election campaign and of having Kim Han-jung transfer 33 million won (approx. NT$722,000) to the account of Myung's organization, Future Korea Institute. Other defendants in the case include Kang Cheol-won, who served as Oh's campaign manager at the time and later became deputy mayor of Seoul. The special prosecution initially sought a 1.5-year prison sentence for Oh and demanded the confiscation of 33 million won. During the trial, the court rejected Oh's claim that he was 'completely unaware' and 'never instructed payment,' ruling that the mayor had indeed requested Myung to provide polling data capable of defeating his party rival, Na Kyung-won, and had directed Kang Cheol-won to coordinate the details. The judges emphasized that third-party payment of campaign-related expenses clearly violates the strict restrictions of the Political Funds Act, justifying the substantial fine.