Oh Se-hoon: "I was unaware of Naegok-dong land... My in-laws' house was in panic"

On the 31st, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, attended the Seoul mayor candidate invitation Kwanhoon debate held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, and responded to the 'Naegok-dong land suspicion.' Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] On the 31st, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, reiterated his explanation regarding the suspicion of 'participation in surveying the in-law's land in Naegok-dong,' stating, "During my term as mayor, the land in Naegok-dong was not in my mind at all."

On the same day, at a Kwanhun Club invitation debate held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, Oh emphasized in response to the question of whether he participated in the land surveying site, "I definitely did not go. I don't remember."

Oh added, "My father-in-law definitely went. He also doesn't remember who else went," and "My eldest brother-in-law definitely went. I remember my younger brother-in-law went briefly."

Regarding his statement that he 'did not even know of the existence' of the land in Naegok-dong, he corrected himself, saying, "I feel reflective. That expression seems to have been a pretext," and "The (in-law's land) was not in my consciousness. I think it would have been better if I had expressed it this precisely."

He continued, "During elections, there are many times when sudden questions come up at election sites. Even if I want to answer, I hold back, go back, instruct the campaign to check, and then return, which takes half a day or one or two days. It would have been better to respond that way," and explained, "At that time, I felt an obsession that I had to respond as quickly as possible because it would spread (about Naegok-dong)."

Oh also reiterated his explanation regarding his earlier remark about "being humble before memory" while clarifying the suspicion of participation in surveying the Naegok-dong land.

He said, "In this situation, when I said we should be humble before memory, it meant that at first, the eldest brother-in-law definitely went. The father-in-law definitely went, and although they don't remember who went with them, they say I definitely did not go," and added, "Since this happened 16 years ago, I meant that human memory cannot be fully trusted."

He then expressed, "The in-laws are in panic, almost in a devastated state," and "They are very confused and apologetic, apologizing to each other even though no one has committed any fault. When I go home, my wife is cautious, and I am cautious of my wife."

Oh also emphasized, "When running for election, property disclosures include details, but like most men in our country, it is an embarrassing matter to ask about the land in Naegok-dong (belonging to the in-laws)," and "I thought the land inherited from the in-laws was somewhere in Gangnam. During my five-year term, I never consciously performed any administrative acts related to it."

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