[Park Jong-il Autonomous News] Oh Se-hoon's Unusual 'Presidential Ambition' Move?

Not only highlighting major national agendas such as 'Seoul-style quarantine,' 'demand for converting comprehensive real estate tax to local tax,' and 'presidential pardon,' but also drawing attention with Mayor Oh's moves seen as a presidential bid, including the 50-floor height relaxation card along the Han River and inclusive Seoul city personnel plans

The 38th Seoul Mayor online inauguration ceremony was held on the morning of the 22nd at the DDP video studio 'Seoul-On' in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is answering questions from citizens submitted via YouTube. 20210422/ Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mayor Oh Se-hoon's movements are unusual.

On the day of his election, the 8th, Mayor Oh proposed the introduction of ‘Seoul-style quarantine’ and ‘self-test kits’ at City Hall. He also made this proposal while attending the Cabinet meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in.

His first move was to raise the nationally concerned issue of COVID-19 quarantine. Although it seemed to fail to gain support as the daily average of COVID-19 confirmed cases was around 600 to 700, he managed to lead to conditional approval of self-test kits as auxiliary kits, allowing them to be purchased at pharmacies starting next week.

Then, on the 20th, Mayor Oh attended his second Cabinet meeting after inauguration and officially requested the government to convert the national property tax (종부세) into a local tax. At the same time, he introduced the card of 100% joint taxation nationwide. He demanded, "Please actively consider this to alleviate fiscal disparities between regions and to realize true local autonomy through fiscal decentralization."

Also, on the 21st, Mayor Oh revealed that he proposed the pardon of former Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye during a luncheon with President Moon at the Blue House. After having lunch with President Moon at the Blue House that day, he said at a briefing at Seoul City Hall, "We discussed various current issues," and "I mentioned the pardon issue of the two former presidents."

◇Mayor Oh raises national agendas such as ‘quarantine,’ ‘property tax,’ and ‘presidential pardon,’ showcasing his presence

In this way, Mayor Oh clearly showed his own color by raising national agendas such as ‘quarantine,’ ‘finance,’ and ‘pardon’ in front of President Moon.

Also, on the 23rd, Mayor Oh met with Robert Rapson, Acting U.S. Ambassador to Korea, in his office to request cooperation from the U.S. government for securing COVID-19 vaccines.

This is a move that no party leader has been able to make.

Watching this series of movements, analyses are already emerging that all of Mayor Oh’s actions are ‘presidential bid moves,’ drawing attention. A senior official of the Seoul Metropolitan Council sharply analyzed, “Looking at Mayor Oh’s movements since his election, all seem to be presidential bid moves.”

It is necessary to be more cautious in viewing Mayor Oh’s movements as presidential bid moves, but his actions after winning the ‘third term’ Seoul mayor election following two failed attempts at running for the National Assembly seem meaningful in various ways.

Especially, politically revived by the sudden death of Mayor Park Won-soon leading to the July 4 by-election, it is clear that Mayor Oh has seized a critical political opportunity.

In this situation, the fact that politician Mayor Oh shows anything other than the usual mayor’s moves is meaningless and thus draws more attention. Therefore, it is not strange that Mayor Oh’s movements are already being linked to a presidential bid.

Especially, with no suitable leading next presidential candidate from the main opposition party besides former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Mayor Oh seems to be drawing a big picture, attracting more attention.

President Moon Jae-in, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon hold a meeting after a luncheon at the Blue House

◇Starting the blueprint for Seoul reconstruction...interpreted as intending to use it as ‘achievement’ for his presidential bid

Meanwhile, Mayor Oh seems to want to make apartment supply through reconstruction and redevelopment in Seoul his definite brand. In particular, specific plans such as promoting the increase of reconstruction apartment heights along the Han River to 50 floors are emerging. Residents of Gangnam, Yeouido, Seongsu-dong, and Mok-dong, as well as Seoul citizens, have high expectations.

Considering the tightly blocked reconstruction market during Mayor Park Won-soon’s era, Mayor Oh is likely to make the ‘reconstruction’ project that changes Seoul’s skyline his brand. Former Mayor Park had announced ‘large-scale Yeouido development and Yongsan station area development plans’ during a visit to Singapore at a press conference but canceled them after being surprised by the rapid rise in real estate prices. Since then, reconstruction issues in Seoul have practically been off the table. Especially, residents of representative reconstruction complexes such as Gangnam Han River side and Daechi-dong Eunma Apartments gave Mayor Oh over 70% of the votes in this by-election, showing strong support.

Therefore, even just initiating reconstruction projects in these ‘hot four areas’ would be a major achievement for Mayor Oh. If these projects gain momentum while stabilizing the real estate market through designation of land transaction permission zones, it will greatly strengthen Mayor Oh’s presidential bid.

Compared to somewhat leisurely projects like ‘Design Seoul’ and ‘Han River Renaissance’ during his previous mayoral term, showing tangible achievements on the reconstruction issue, which Seoul citizens are eager about, can gain more power. Considering former Mayor Lee Myung-bak’s experience of securing the presidency by showing visible achievements like ‘Cheonggyecheon restoration’ during his third term, ‘civil engineering achievements’ still seem to be a good asset to appeal to the public when challenging the presidency.

Of course, persuading the Seoul Metropolitan Council to lift the 35-floor height limit along the Han River to 50 floors is key, but the council does not seem to be able to block it blindly.

Along with this plan, Mayor Oh announced personnel appointments just one week after his election, naming the first and second deputy mayors and the head of the Planning and Coordination Office. There is no stronger signal to the organization than personnel appointments. Especially, the expectation that the two deputy mayors would come from outside was overturned.

Contrary to expectations, Jo In-dong, the top planner in Seoul, was appointed as the first deputy mayor, and Ryu Hoon, the top housing expert and head of the Urban Regeneration Office, was appointed as the second deputy mayor. Also, Hwang Bo-yeon, head of the Urban Transportation Office, known for his strong execution and good relations with the council, was appointed as the head of the Planning and Coordination Office. This was also unexpected. Subsequently, vacancies were filled with Baek Ho, head of the Urban Transportation Office, Kim Sang-han, Administrative Director, and Kim Tae-gyun, head of the Waterworks Headquarters.

There are rumors that the spokesperson position will be filled by an outsider, but considering Mayor Oh’s political schedule, some question whether it is necessary to bring in an external figure. It will take considerable time to properly understand Seoul city administration.

Later, personnel below the director level will likely be reorganized along with organizational restructuring and regular appointments effective July 1.

Seoul City Hall officials were deeply moved and sighed with relief for a while. One executive said, “I expected Mayor Oh to overhaul the organization after 10 years, but I was surprised to see stable personnel appointments,” and analyzed, “It gave me the feeling that he is drawing a ‘big picture.’”

It is seen that Mayor Oh intends to stabilize the organization rather than following the past method of ‘performance-oriented administration’ that made employees suffer greatly during his previous mayoral term.

Just looking at Mayor Oh’s first personnel appointments, there is an analysis that he is not simply planning to serve as Seoul mayor one or two more times. During the election, candidate Park Young-sun, who competed with Mayor Oh, said in a TV debate, “We should not elect a candidate who uses the Seoul mayor position as a stepping stone,” which seems based on the expectation that Mayor Oh will not be satisfied with being mayor. Another Seoul city council member analyzed, “It is hard to imagine politically that Mayor Oh will run again in next year’s mayoral election after finishing this term and then run for the next or the one after next presidential election.”

With no strong presidential candidate in the People Power Party currently, if Mayor Oh establishes a solid position through Seoul city administration this year, it is expected he can build a sufficient foundation to challenge next year’s presidential election. There is analysis that if the support rate for the main opposition candidate, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, falls, Mayor Oh could become an alternative.

Of course, Mayor Oh has been in office less than a month, so it seems difficult for him to readily agree with such claims, but as the second half of the year progresses and the political presidential clock speeds up, his movements may gradually reveal their outline.

Another Seoul Metropolitan Council official said, “Who would have predicted that Mayor Oh would make a glamorous comeback as mayor after 10 years?” and added, “In politics, especially, no one knows how situations will unfold.”

Mayor Oh’s movements are a point of focus.

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