Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon convicted of campaign finance crimes, facing ouster and a five-year ban from office if upheld.
SEOUL: A South Korean court convicted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of campaign finance crimes on Wednesday, a ruling that will oust him and bar a presidential run if upheld by the nation’s top court.
Oh was first elected Seoul’s mayor in 2006 and in June won a fifth term in the nation’s most powerful municipal role, considered a springboard to high office.
He rose to prominence as a possible contender for the opposition People Power Party (PPP) as other veterans were tainted by former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 2024 martial law bid.
But the Seoul Central District Court ruled Oh had a patron pay 21 million won ($14,200) for five of his opinion polls in a 2021 by-election, breaching the political funds act.
Oh was fined 10 million won, a court spokesman told AFP, and if the ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court he will be ousted as mayor and barred from office for five years.
“The purpose of punishing the illegal receipt of political funds is to foster the sound development of democratic politics by excluding the influence of money in politics,” the court said in a statement provided to AFP.
“The offence is serious, given that the illegally received political funds amounted to 21 million won, a substantial sum,” it added.
Oh, 65, pledged to appeal against the ruling, telling reporters outside the court he was convicted based on false testimony and “circumstantial evidence”.
“The five polls were recognised by the court as constituting a crime, which I cannot accept,” he said.
The PPP has seen public support collapse since its figurehead Yoon attempted to declare marital law in December 2024.
Yoon was removed from office and is jailed and on trial for insurrection, while the liberal-leaning Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae Myung won snap elections in June 2025.
The PPP suffered defeat again to Lee’s party in June’s local elections.
But they failed to unseat Oh in the most significant race — in part because he distanced himself from attempted coup leader Yoon and his close circle.
