The Seoul High Court on Friday, October 23, 2026, acquitted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Political Funds Act violations, overturning a July lower-court conviction that had threatened to strip him of his mayoralty. The ruling has split South Korea's political establishment: conservatives call it justice finally served, while the opposition says it proves the courts protect powerful conservatives.
The verdict
Seoul High Court Criminal Division 7, presided over by Chief Judge Koo Hoe-geun, delivered the ruling at 2 p.m. on Friday, overturning the July first-instance verdict that had fined Oh 10 million won and ordered 21 million won in forfeiture. The appellate court found the evidence insufficient to prove that Oh directly orchestrated or was culpable for third-party payments. It also acquitted former Seoul Deputy Mayor Kang Cheol-won and businessman Kim Han-jung, who stood trial alongside him.
"It is hard to say that it has been proved without reasonable doubt that the defendant Oh Se-hoon asked Myung Tae-kyun to conduct a specific opinion poll and paid the money in return," the court said, finding it difficult to credit the statements of poll broker Myung Tae-kyun because they were inconsistent and contradicted by objective evidence.
The case behind the headlines
The case dates back to the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. Prosecutors alleged that poll broker Myung Tae-kyun ran around 10 opinion polls for Oh's campaign and that supporter Kim Han-jung paid roughly 33 million won (about $24,900) of the polling costs — an arrangement they said amounted to illicit political funding. The July first-instance court found that five of the ten polls were conducted at Oh's request.
The stakes were high: under the Political Funds Act, a finalized fine of 1 million won or more strips an elected official of office. The conviction had threatened Oh's fourth term as mayor and his standing as a conservative presidential contender. The special prosecutor had sought a year and six months in prison plus forfeiture of 33 million won.
Two sides
The conservative side celebrated. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok called the ruling "justice served," saying the special counsel's "overreaching indictment has been exposed," and demanded the Supreme Court appeal be dropped. "The person who should stand trial is not Mayor Oh Se-hoon but the criminal, President Lee Jae-myung," he said, calling for the resumption of trials against the president. Lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo called the verdict "a stern rebuke" of weaponized law.
The opposition side was furious. Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do slammed the verdict, arguing the judiciary applies lenient standards to conservative heavyweights while punishing opposition figures. The anger is fueled by precedent: the same appellate court acquitted former President Yoon Suk Yeol on October 7 in the related Myung Tae-kyun free-polling case, ruling that opinion polls are not a financial benefit. Some in the ruling Democratic Party now say the acquittal could accelerate a push to impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae.
What happens next
The special counsel's office is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court of Korea, where a final verdict is expected early next year. For now, Oh — who kept his eyes closed and fists tightly clenched through the 10-minute verdict, breaking into a faint smile only at the acquittal — thanked the public for believing in his innocence and walked out of the Seoul High Court a free man, his mayoralty intact.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Movement Proposition (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Arirang News, Newspim, No Cut News, AJU Press, Maeil Business Newspaper, BizChosun.