Seoul mayor convicted in campaign finance case

A South Korean court convicted Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of campaign finance crimes on Wednesday. The ruling would remove him from office and bar him from running for president if it is upheld by the Supreme Court.

Oh was first elected mayor of Seoul in 2006 and won a fifth term in June. The Seoul mayoralty is described in the report as the country's most powerful municipal office and a possible route to higher office.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Oh had a patron pay 21 million won, or about $14,200, for five opinion polls during a 2021 by-election, in breach of the political funds act. A court spokesman said Oh was fined 10 million won. If the ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court, he will be removed as mayor and barred from office for five years.

The court said punishing the illegal receipt of political funds was meant to support democratic politics by excluding the influence of money. It said the offence was serious because the amount involved was substantial.

Oh, 65, said he would appeal. Speaking outside the court, he said he had been convicted on the basis of false testimony and circumstantial evidence, and said he could not accept that the five polls had been treated as a crime.

The report said Oh had become a possible contender for the opposition People Power Party after other party veterans were affected by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's 2024 martial law bid. Yoon was removed from office and is jailed and on trial for insurrection. Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae Myung won snap elections in June 2025. The People Power Party lost again to Lee's party in June local elections, but Oh kept the Seoul mayoralty after distancing himself from Yoon and his circle.