Kim Jong-in denies commissioning polls in Oh Se-hoon trial

Kim Jong-in, former chairman of the People Power Party's emergency response committee, testified in the second trial of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon regarding allegations of violating the Political Funds Act. Kim stated that he never requested or commissioned political broker Myung Tae-kyun to conduct public opinion polls.

During the hearing at the Seoul High Court, Kim testified that Myung had attempted to use his association with Kim to boast about his influence on the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election. Kim noted that while Myung claimed to be his strategist, he never trusted Myung's statements and believed Myung was exaggerating his capabilities.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon was indicted in December last year on charges of receiving ten sets of opinion poll results from Myung and having businessman Kim Han-jung pay 33 million won for them. A first-instance court previously found Oh guilty of commissioning five of these polls, sentencing him to a 10 million won fine, a penalty that could lead to the loss of his mayoral position.