Unification of the Opposition, Clashing with Each Other... Oh Se-hoon Urges "Let's Refrain from Aggressive Expressions"

Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor (left), and Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Party candidate for Seoul mayor, are shaking hands at the 113th anniversary of International Women's Day ceremony held on the afternoon of the 8th at the Air Force Hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Bo-ryeong] Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, and Ahn Cheol-soo, the People’s Party candidate, who are pushing for opposition unity in the Seoul mayoral by-election, have turned their blades against each other.

On the 15th, Ahn said at the People’s Party Supreme Council meeting, "Does candidate Oh truly have sincerity for unification?"

Ahn criticized a post Oh made on Facebook the previous day. Ahn said, "You said I have always been at the center of division and will continue to be a candidate who breeds division. Is that something you can say to a unification negotiation partner? If so, then there is absolutely no reason for me to unify with you," he pointed out.

Later, in a meeting with reporters, Ahn said, "This election itself will not simply flow smoothly within the opposition for a whole month. Various atmospheres will change, for example, issues such as real estate problems or bribery involving opposition figures will arise," adding, "In such cases, I am a candidate completely free from those issues. Even in situations where public perception and popular sentiment toward the opposition worsen, I am a candidate who consistently beats Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate, by a margin outside the margin of error, both in the past and now," he emphasized.

On the same day in the morning, after the People Power Party Central Election Countermeasures Committee Seoul Donghaeng 1st meeting for the by-election, Oh met with reporters and said, "Until now, candidate Ahn and I have refrained from saying what we wanted to say to each other and from criticizing points we wanted to criticize, but yesterday afternoon he released a rather aggressive statement about me, so I just stated my understanding of the situation," he pointed out.

Oh continued, "Looking back at the previous Seoul mayoral election and the presidential election before that, the opposition lost because of division," adding, "We agreed that we must unify to prevent such a thing from happening."

Oh urged Ahn to refrain from aggressive expressions and language toward each other. Oh said, "I hope we can refrain from aggressive and critical expressions toward each other until the moment of unification."

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