The Seoul Central District Court on July 22 sentenced Mayor Oh Se-hoon, indicted on charges including violating the Political Funds Act, to a penalty that entails loss of office, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. A local government head loses his post once a sentence above a set threshold becomes final.

At issue was whether the cost of five opinion polls conducted ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election was borne by a third party rather than by Oh's side. The court held that Myung Tae-kyun's testimony, 'while containing some exaggeration, is credible.'

The court also treated the use of publishable polls for promotion as a 'political expense.' On that logic, having a third party pay amounts to receiving political funds. With no direct physical evidence, how testimony and circumstance were weighed decided the outcome.

Oh's lawyers said they could accept 'neither the facts nor the legal reasoning' and would appeal. Higher-court proceedings remain before any sentence is final, so he is not immediately suspended from duty.

Only a month ago Oh was discussed across both camps as a leading presidential contender; the ruling badly shakes that standing. Observers say momentum behind major Seoul city projects could also be affected.

For Chinese residents of Seoul, continuity in city government matters too. Multicultural and foreign-resident support programs and commercial-district assistance, they note, belong to an administrative sphere that should continue regardless of a mayor's political circumstances.