The Politics of Conservative Politician Oh Shin-hwan Who Loves 'Lula'

The Reason for Politics Is to Protect the Vulnerable for Community Survival
No Separate Left or Right Policies
Promises Include Tackling Low Birthrate and Providing Housing Ladder

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] "Who is your role model politician?" I thought it was a somewhat clich?d question. The answer shattered a common prejudice.

"It's not about left or right, but I was moved by various anecdotes and messages left by that person. For example, former Brazilian President Lula, in an interview, was asked 'Why do you do politics?' and he said, 'Politics is done with a mother's heart.' Just as there is no finger that doesn't hurt when you bite all ten fingers, you love all your children, but if one child is weak or born with a disability, naturally, you spend more time, affection, and effort caring for that child. That is why I do politics."

Oh Shin-hwan, People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayoral primary. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

This was the answer of Oh Shin-hwan, the People Power Party's preliminary candidate for Seoul mayor. Luis In?cio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, is a politician who started as a factory worker and established the foundation of Brazil's welfare policy, representing progressive politics in South America. He is known for initiatives like 'Bolsa Fam?lia,' which contributed to eradicating absolute poverty in Brazil. While the right-wing views him as a typical left-wing populist, the left regards him as a capable progressive politician. Oh's admiration for a South American progressive politician over numerous conservative politicians was certainly 'unexpected.' On the 17th, Oh revealed his belief in conservative politics different from the traditionally known conservative politics in an interview with Asia Economy.

"There are many people in our society who live well without political attention. The places where politics needs to show interest, and where the Seoul mayor should play a role, are precisely those points (the 'hurting finger'). Why do we need politics? It should be to protect the community of the weak, the struggling, and the vulnerable, to embrace them and give them courage. Why should only the left do this? I believe that the values of community and the republican values to protect the nation that we conservatives hold are contained within this."

"I have never considered myself a left-wing politician. We shout freedom, but our ideology and thoughts are not truly free. Where are right-wing policies or left-wing policies? If it is a policy for the people, we should accept and use it. That is how I think."

He also saw the need for conservative politics to change in line with changes in Korean society.

"The People Power Party needs to develop empathy. If we don't constantly show that we have a sense of ownership, the party's image as a vested interest group and its outdated image will not change. We need to sincerely show the process of changing messages, content, policies, and leadership to reduce unfavorable impressions. Someone has to do it, but it has become more difficult since the impeachment."

Oh proposed a repurchase-conditional half-half apartment as his real estate pledge. Compared to other candidates' supply plans of hundreds of thousands of units, he presented a notably small supply plan of 30,000 units. Among conservative candidates for Seoul mayor, this was the smallest scale of real estate supply measures announced. In fact, like other conservative politicians, he believed the solution lies in deregulation to activate private supply. However, he did not present this as a goal. Instead, he proposed the 'half-half apartment' as a separate real estate measure, which was a plan to address the blind spots between private-led supply measures and government-led rental housing supply measures.

"No matter how much supply there is, how can homeless low-income people or young people struggling with jeonse (long-term deposit lease) afford a 1 billion won apartment? The role of the Seoul mayor is to provide some kind of housing ladder for them. The product must be attractive by lowering the supply price to less than half and guaranteeing up to half of the capital gains when selling, considering market principles and basic human desires. The Seoul mayor should play the role of a stepping stone, allowing people to move from the private housing market to the public rental market through asset accumulation as a housing ladder."

His pledges also focus on measures for small business owners affected by COVID-19 and low birthrate policies. In particular, he approached the low birthrate issue as a problem of women's self-realization.

"The perspective on the low birthrate problem is fundamentally that women's fear of career interruption in social life leads to fear of childbirth. In France, which has twice the total fertility rate of Korea and ranks first among OECD countries, public childcare is realized at 98%. Seoul's rate this year is 46%. I thought that expanding the use of childcare facilities equivalent in quality to national and public institutions, such as the 'Seoul-type public certified daycare centers,' could block career interruptions. Simply guaranteeing parental leave will not solve the problem. If a woman returns after one year of parental leave and finds her desk gone, suffers personnel disadvantages, and falls behind her peers, she will not be able to make a bold decision. In this era, special measures must be taken to solve this."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.