Public Prosecution Office refuses to forward Oh Se-hoon's 'Myeong Tae-gyun defamation' case and asks police to reinvestigate

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Yun-seon = The Public Prosecution Service requested the police to reinvestigate the case in which Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon sued political broker Myung Tae-gyun on charges of defamation.

According to the legal community on the 6th, the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office's Public Criminal Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyeong-won) requested the police to reinvestigate Myung's case on charges of defamation and other charges under the Information and Communications Network Act on the 28th of last month.

The Public Prosecution Service is said to have judged that a reinvestigation of the police's decision not to forward the case was necessary in relation to the appellate court's ruling in the case of Mayor Oh's alleged payment of public opinion poll fees, which overturned the first trial and found him not guilty, saying, "It is difficult to believe Mr. Myeong's statement as is."

Previously, Mayor Oh filed a complaint against Myeong to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (currently the Seoul Central District Public Prosecution Office), accusing him of spreading false information regarding the suspicion of paying for the public opinion poll in December 2024.

The National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, which took over the case, found it difficult to acknowledge Mr. Myeong's charges and decided not to forward the case last July.

Mayor Oh is accused of receiving opinion poll results from Mr. Myeong ahead of the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election and having Kim Han-jeong, known as a long-time supporter, pay the costs on his behalf.