Rep. Seo Young-kyo calls for prison sentence against Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon

On the 22nd, one day before the appellate court ruling in the case of alleged improper payment of opinion poll costs involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Democratic Party Rep. Seo Young-kyo, chairwoman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, "Mayor Oh must be sentenced to prison." As the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the prosecution service was underway on the 22nd, Seo posted a statement on her Facebook page under her name as committee chair. In the statement, she argued that "having funneled improper political funds, it is enough for him to step down from public office."

Committee Chair Seo explained that the structure of the case was simple. A businessman who had never met Myung Tae-kyun delivered 21 million won to Myung, who then conducted opinion polls ten times on behalf of Mayor Oh and relayed the results to him.

Rep. Seo also referenced past history tied to the 2004 revision of the election law. That law, which strengthened grounds for invalidating election results by making an elected post void upon a fine of 1 million won or more, is nicknamed the "Oh Se-hoon law" because Oh created it during his first term. "The time has come for him to step down from public office under that very law he created," she emphasized.

Park Hyung-soo of the People Power Party, the opposition's senior negotiator on the committee, also questioned Seo's intentions. Citing the fact that she had run in the Seoul mayoral primary during the last local elections before withdrawing midway, he asked, "Is she planning to run for Seoul mayor if Mayor Oh is sentenced to prison and loses his post?" In response, Seo rebutted, "I am a resident of Seoul and a lawmaker representing Seoul. What is wrong with asking for a proper judgment?"

The appellate ruling in Mayor Oh's case will be delivered at 2 p.m. on the 23rd by the Criminal Division 7 of the Seoul High Court, and the verdict will be broadcast live.