Seoul Mayor Faces Removal After Fine for Illegal Polling

Seoul (ANTARA) — The Mayor of Seoul, South Korea, faces losing his post after being fined for violating political funds laws in connection with an illegal poll, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Seoul Central District Court imposed a fine of 10 million won (1 won = Rp12.13) on Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, a ruling that could see Oh removed from office if upheld by the Supreme Court.

The court found that Oh had ordered the conduct of an opinion poll, with the costs borne by his supporters. The court subsequently ruled that the financing of the poll by Oh’s supporters constituted illegal political funding.

A team led by Min Joong-ki, a special counsel heading the investigation into alleged corruption involving former president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, had sought a prison sentence of one and a half years for Oh.

The Seoul mayor is reported to have announced his intention to appeal the court’s ruling.

Oh was indicted without detention in December 2025 on charges of accepting the results of opinion polls ten times ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election against Myung Tae-kyun, a self-styled political broker. Oh asked Kim Han-jung, a long-time financial backer, to cover the costs of the polls.

If Oh is fined more than 1 million won in a final ruling expected by the end of this year, he will be removed from his post as mayor.

On 13 July, former president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced to two years in prison for colluding with his wife to receive free customised opinion polls from the same political broker 58 times ahead of the 2022 presidential election.