"Candidate Oh Se-hoon's Incompetence and Financial Ruin Waste Citizens' Taxes... Resign as Mayor"

Seoul City Council Member Kim Chang-won Claims, "I Absolutely Cannot Work with the Administration as a Council Member"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Chang-won, Seoul City Council member (Democratic Party, Dobong 3), fiercely attacked Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, saying, "He was a mayor characterized by communication failure comparable to dictatorship," and "Looking at Oh Se-hoon's past, he was incompetent, so I absolutely cannot work with him in administration."

Councilor Kim stated, "When Oh was the mayor of Seoul, he referred to citizens as customers and operated Seoul Plaza under a permit system, effectively turning it into a government-controlled plaza. He neglected city administration and spent seven months urging signatures against free school meals. Additionally, he managed a deficit budget exceeding 1 trillion won for two consecutive years, borrowed 3.8 trillion won in short-term loans over two years, wasting 12 billion won in interest, and over five years, Seoul's debt reached a staggering 19.6 trillion won. In 2012 alone, the annual interest exceeded 820 billion won. Oh was a mayor who wasted citizens' tax money through incompetence and financial ruin."

He also pointed out, "During the Han River Renaissance from 2006 to 2010, five projects were flagged by the Board of Audit and Inspection as improper, wasting 594 billion won; the Sebitseom Floating Islands cost 139 billion won; the West Sea Waterway project 70 billion won; and the Yanghwa Bridge construction expenses 48.8 billion won."

Councilor Kim added, "While serving as mayor, Oh was absent without permission on the third day of the December 2010 Seoul City Council plenary session's administrative questioning. From July 2010 to August 2011, he attended only 16 out of 40 meetings, showing a 60% absence rate, neglecting his attendance duties."

He continued, "The free school meal budget shared by Seoul City, which Oh opposed, was only 0.3% of the Seoul City budget in 2010, amounting to 69.5 billion won. Even after ten years since its implementation, it has not failed. In May 2010, Oh promised not to run in the presidential election and to complete his term as mayor, but he abandoned the mayoral office. The current land in Naegok-dong is also a case where one lie begets another," criticizing him.

Councilor Kim said, "He attended the Taegeukgi rallies and made statements about impeaching a 'crazy president' in the name of the people. In the past, he criticized the free school meal policy as a 'ruinous populist policy disguised as welfare.' I cannot help but ask if he still thinks this way. Even now, during campaign speeches, he criticizes the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies, making remarks likening them to 'severe dementia patients,' drawing criticism. Although he is one of the citizens, as a city council member, looking at Oh's past, I believe his incompetence will lead to absurd policies, so I absolutely cannot work with him in administration," he asserted.

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