Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Indicts Oh Se-hoon Without Detention... "Myung Tae-kyun Should Be Regarded as a Contractor"

[The Financial News] The Kim Keon Hee special prosecutor's team (led by Special Prosecutor Min Jung-gi) has indicted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon for allegedly requesting Myung Tae-kyun to conduct opinion polls and having a businessman pay the related costs. The special investigation team also indicted Kang Cheol-won, former Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul, and businessman Kim Han-jeong. However, the team excluded Myung from the list of those indicted, concluding that he only conducted the opinion polls at Oh's request.
On the 1st, the special prosecutor's team charged Mayor Oh, former Deputy Mayor Kang, and Kim Han-jeong without detention for violating the Political Funds Act. All three have been named as suspects.
They are accused of commissioning Myung Tae-kyun to conduct unpublished opinion polls ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having the related costs paid by a third party.
According to the special prosecutor's team, Mayor Oh asked Myung to conduct 'opinion polls related to the Seoul mayoral by-election' and then instructed former Deputy Mayor Kang, who was then the chief secretary of the election camp, to order the polls. The team determined that Oh directed Kang to coordinate with Myung and carry out the polls. Subsequently, Kim Han-jeong was asked to cover the costs of the polls, effectively paying on behalf of the campaign.
The special prosecutor's team found that, at Oh's request, Myung Tae-kyun conducted a total of 10 opinion polls—both published and unpublished—related to the Seoul mayoral by-election from January 22 to February 28, 2021. The team confirmed that Oh received the results of three published and seven unpublished polls. In total, Myung was found to have conducted 10 polls at Oh's request.
During this process, former Deputy Mayor Kang communicated with Myung, exchanging questionnaires and discussing the progress of the polls. Kim Han-jeong, between February 1 and March 26 of the same year, paid a total of 33 million won over five transactions to the account of Kang Hae-kyung, deputy director of Mirae Korea Research Institute (MKRI), which is effectively owned by Myung. The amounts paid for published and unpublished polls were found to differ.
However, the special prosecutor's team did not indict Myung. They explained that Myung merely conducted the polls at Oh's request and did not commit any legal wrongdoing. A team official stated, "In this case, Kim Han-jeong made a donation to Mayor Oh and former Deputy Mayor Kang, while Myung simply performed the work and cannot be considered a suspect," adding, "Myung was the person contracted by Oh's side to carry out the task."
All those involved have consistently denied the charges. Mayor Oh insisted that the unpublished polls were never provided to the campaign and that Kim Han-jeong paid the costs on his own. In a statement released that day, Oh refuted, "Most of the Myung Tae-kyun opinion polls are fabricated and fake." Former Deputy Mayor Kang also stated that he never reported the matter to Mayor Oh. In contrast, Myung argued that he participated in the poll analysis at Oh's request.
To clarify the facts, the special prosecutor's team summoned Mayor Oh and Myung on the 8th of last month as a suspect and a witness, respectively, and conducted more than 12 hours of face-to-face questioning. It was reported that both sides maintained their previous positions throughout the confrontation. On the 25th of the same month, former Deputy Mayor Kang and Kim Han-jeong were also summoned as suspects for questioning.
Attention is now focused on whether the special prosecutor's team will summon and investigate other figures related to Myung Tae-kyun, such as former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, apart from Mayor Oh. So far, others including former People Power Party lawmaker Yeongseon Kim have been questioned, but Hong and other figures have not. Kim and others have also not yet been indicted. As only Kim Keon Hee, Oh Se-hoon, Kang Cheol-won, and Kim Han-jeong have been brought to trial among those connected to Myung, there is growing interest in whether further investigations or indictments will follow.
theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyung-soo Reporter