Seoul mayor faces removal after court fine over illegal polling

The mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, is facing the potential loss of his office after a court fined him for violating political funding laws linked to illegal opinion polling, foreign media reported on Wednesday, July 22.

The Seoul Central District Court imposed a fine of 10 million won (about $6,760), a ruling that could lead to his removal from office if upheld by the Supreme Court.

According to the court, Oh commissioned opinion polls while a supporter paid for them, with the expenses deemed to constitute illegal political funds.

Prosecutors, led by special counsel Min Joong-ki — who headed an investigation into corruption allegations involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee — had sought a prison sentence of one and a half years.

Oh has reportedly announced plans to appeal the ruling.

He was indicted without detention in December 2025 on charges of receiving opinion poll results on 10 occasions ahead of the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election from self-described political broker Myung Tae-kyun, while his long-time financial supporter, Kim Han-jung, covered the associated costs.

Under South Korean law, if the final ruling — expected by the end of this year — upholds a fine exceeding 1 million won (about $665), Oh would be stripped of his mayoral position.

Separately, on July 13, Yoon was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring with his wife to receive customised opinion polls free of charge from the same broker on 58 occasions ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

By Tamilla Hasanova