Oh Se-hoon Campaign Head Kang Cheol-won Summoned by Prosecutors
Denies Meeting with Myung·Oh·Kim
The prosecutors investigating allegations regarding the payment of public opinion survey costs related to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon have summoned two of his close aides for questioning. They sought to verify whether they had received the survey results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun. Former Seoul Vice Mayor Kang Cheol-won denied the allegations, stating that Myung was mixing “5% truth with 95% falsehoods.”
On the 10th, the exclusive investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Kang and Oh’s special advisor, Park Chan-koo, as references. Upon arriving for questioning, Kang stated, “The claims about 13 undisclosed surveys, seven meetings with Mr. Myung, and a three-party meeting with Kim Han-jung are entirely false” and expressed that the day’s investigation was aimed at clarifying the truth behind Myung’s statements.
In a prior phone call with the Kukmin Ilbo, Kang said, “Neither Mayor Oh nor I received survey results from Mr. Myung during the 2021 by-election for the Seoul mayor,” and claimed, “While Mr. Kim might have received results since he allegedly paid for them, Mayor Oh did not know about Kim’s payment.”
Prosecutors suspect that during the 2021 election, Myung conducted 13 undisclosed surveys and that Kim, a known supporter of Oh, covered the 33 million won cost in February-March of that year. It is reported that Park sent a message to Myung in January 2021 stating, “This is ○○ from Seoul City serving the mayor.” Mayor Oh admitted to meeting Myung twice in January 2021 through the introduction of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, but claims he cut ties after evaluating Myung’s survey methods as unworthy.
The prosecutors questioned Kang Hye-kyung, the deputy director of Myung’s research company Future Korea Research Institute, as a reference on the 5th. Kang Hye-kyung claims she received the 33 million won survey payment in her personal account and provided the survey data, designed to favor Oh, to his team. Prosecutors plan to summon Myung for further questioning on the 11th.