The appeal ruling for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, fined 10 million won at first instance for violating the Political Funds Act, is due on the 23rd. The Kyunghyang Shinmun says the outcome could reshape party contests as well as decide whether he keeps his post.
According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the second-instance ruling in Oh’s Political Funds Act case, which could affect the timing of a Seoul mayoral by-election, will be handed down on the 23rd. Oh was fined 10 million won on July 22 in the first trial, a penalty described as enough to cost him the mayoralty.
광고 문의 · 300×250The court set the appeal ruling for October 23, three months after the first-instance verdict. The Kyunghyang read this as an effort to keep to the trial deadlines in the special counsel law on Kim Keon-hee: six months for the first trial and three months each for the second and third. It expects the Supreme Court’s final ruling around January next year.
What a final conviction would mean
Citing Article 57 of the Political Funds Act, the paper explained that a final fine of 1 million won or more for illegally receiving political funds bars a person from taking public office for five years and removes an incumbent from the post. In that case, the National Election Commission has said, the Seoul by-election would be held on April 7 next year.
If Oh avoids a penalty that costs him the post, his standing in the conservative camp is expected to strengthen. That would give the People Power Party’s non-mainstream wing a presidential contender and could weigh against the return of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.
The parties’ calculations
Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok said on August 10 that the party would immediately begin preparing for the Seoul mayoral and Gangneung parliamentary by-elections and seek a vote of confidence in his leadership afterward. The Kyunghyang said a loss could force another party convention and deepen factional strife, and noted worries inside the party that winning will not be easy.
For the People Power Party, a win could stabilize leader Chang Dong-hyuk’s team and raise the odds of a second term, while a loss could expose the leadership to attack and raise the chance of Han’s return. A by-election win is also seen as a source of momentum for President Lee Jae-myung. The appeal verdict itself has not yet been issued, and its content cannot be confirmed.