Yoon and Oh Se-hoon assigned to the same panel—is it a coincidence? Seoul High Court chief: “Random assignment”

[Financial News] The judiciary has moved to quell controversy over the panel that acquitted former President Yoon Suk Yeol in the trial over his receiving free opinion polls from Myeong Tae-gyun also being assigned to a similar case involving Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon: a ruling on the “payment by someone else of Myeong Tae-gyun opinion-poll costs.” As Yoon overturned his first-trial conviction and was acquitted in a similar case involving Myeong’s opinion polls, attention is also turning to the outcome of Mayor Oh’s trial.
On the 16th, Seoul High Court Chief Kim Dae-woong said at a National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit of the Seoul High Court and other institutions that the appeals involving former President Yoon and Mayor Oh had been assigned to the same panel “at random.”
Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-a said, “Mayor Oh was sentenced to a fine of 10 million won in the first trial, while former President Yoon was sentenced to two years in prison. But on the 7th, Seoul High Court Criminal Division 7 overturned the ruling on former President Yoon, changing it from partially guilty to not guilty. Rulings on the same matter differ from court to court and from person to person. How can the public have confidence in the courts?”
Kim Dong-a added, “The two cases have the same structure: a politician received opinion polls for election purposes and did not pay for them personally. The difference is that in Oh’s case, supporter Kim Han-jung paid the cost, while in Yoon’s case, Myeong Tae-gyun’s side bore it.”
Earlier, Seoul High Court Criminal Division 7, presided over by Judge Gu Hoe-geun, overturned the first-trial ruling sentencing former President Yoon to two years in prison and acquitted him on the 7th. The court’s reasoning was that opinion poll results could not be regarded as a pecuniary benefit.
Mayor Oh denies having a relationship with Myeong and maintains that he never asked for the costs to be paid on his behalf. Supporter Kim, who actually paid the money, also says the decision was made independently, without any request from Mayor Oh.
Lawmaker Kim criticized the ruling, saying, “It means a third party paying for an opinion poll makes it a crime, but Myeong Tae-gyun himself providing one for free does not. An opinion poll costs 5.5 million won, and several were provided free of charge. Can the public accept a ruling that there was no quid pro quo?”
In response, Chief Kim said, “I understand that different conclusions were reached in the course of the trials under the tiered court system.”
[email protected] Lee Chang-hoon Reporter