First trial on Seoul mayor's alleged proxy poll payment to take place March 4
Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 15:59
![Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a meeting with small business owners at a market in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Jan. 22. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/579e6361-0b84-4014-b1df-f23a2aab068f.jpg)
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a meeting with small business owners at a market in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Jan. 22. [YONHAP]
The first formal trial on Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's suspected proxy payment of opinion poll expenses will take place on March 4 and continue at two-week intervals thereafter, a court said on Wednesday.
The Seoul Central District Court scheduled the trial for Oh, his longtime supporter Kim Han-jung and former Seoul Deputy Mayor Kang Cheol-won during a preparatory hearing on the case earlier on Wednesday.
Oh was indicted by a special counsel team on charges of getting Kim to pay 33 million won ($22,400) on his behalf to Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed power broker, for 10 public opinion surveys conducted from January to February 2021.
Oh, who denied the accusations, has requested that his trial schedule be set to minimize political repercussions in connection with June's local elections.
In the first and second formal trials, Kang Hye-kyung, who first disclosed the alleged proxy payment, and Myung are scheduled to attend their respective witness interrogation.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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