Court to livestream Oh Se-hoon's appeal ruling on polling fraud charges Friday

A Seoul court will livestream the appellate sentencing of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on political funds law violations, scheduled for Friday.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7, presided over by Chief Judge Gu Hoe-geun, announced Tuesday that it would allow real-time broadcast coverage of Oh's appeal ruling, set for 2 p.m. Friday.

The special prosecution team led by Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki submitted a request for broadcast permission to the court Monday.

Under the special prosecutor act, the court must grant such a request from either the special prosecutor or the defendant unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Oh was indicted on charges of receiving polling results from Myeong Tae-gyun on 10 separate occasions in 2021 and having supporter Kim Han-jeong cover the 33 million won ($24,800) cost on his behalf. The first-instance court found him guilty on five of the 10 polling counts and sentenced him to a fine of 10 million won.

Elected officials who receive a confirmed prison sentence or a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the political funds law are removed from office.

The special prosecution team sought a sentence of one year and six months in prison for Oh at the closing arguments held Oct. 2.

In his final statement, Oh denied the charges, saying it was "unimaginable — something entirely at odds with the political convictions I have upheld — that I would ask a supporter to cover costs on my behalf."

If the first-instance ruling is ultimately upheld on final appeal, Oh would lose his mayoral post.