Democratic Party: “Oh Se-hoon’s acquittal is a free pass for illegal political funds” ... Pushes to amend election law

[Financial News] The Democratic Party of Korea strongly criticized the appellate acquittal of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 5th, calling it “a ruling that gave a free pass to the expenditure of illegal political funds.” The party also said it would pursue amendments to the Public Official Election Act to strengthen oversight of unpublished opinion polls.
The party held an expert roundtable organized by its Legal Affairs Committee at the National Assembly that day under the theme “Problems with the Appellate Ruling on Oh Se-hoon,” focusing on the legal issues with the appellate court’s decision.
Park Joo-min, a Democratic Party lawmaker who took part in the primary to select the party’s Seoul mayoral candidate in the last local elections, said, “Candidates who abide by the law are disadvantaged, while candidates who skirt it end up safe,” adding, “You cannot call this a fair election.”
Park cited the fact that businessman Kim Han-jung, known as a supporter of Mayor Oh, gave money to political broker Myeong Tae-gyun, and argued, “Waiving expenses that should be paid to someone helping a candidate is also a donation.” He criticized the ruling, saying it effectively resulted in absolving the expenditure of illegal political funds.
He also proposed institutional reforms. Park said, “The results of unpublished opinion polls should be registered with the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission, and polling organizations should be required to register so they can be brought under an oversight system.” He said he would push for the passage of amendments to the Public Official Election Act within the year.
Democratic Party Secretary-General Han Jeoung-ae said, “This ruling is like a ‘side door’ that has opened a new path for money to follow,” and argued, “It has created a way to hollow out the Political Funds Act itself by diminishing the evidentiary weight of evidence or excluding it from admission.”
Seo Young-kyo, chair of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, took aim at Koo Hoe-geun, the Seoul High Court senior judge who presided over the appeal, saying, “I think the court has been tainted,” and adding, “The court is strange, and the Supreme Court under Cho Hee-dae is suspicious and strange, too.”

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter