O Se-hoon's Reckless Venting... Is SH a Private Organization?

Seoul Metropolitan Council Democratic Party Strongly Condemns Mayor Oh Se-hoon for Prolonging SH President Vacancy by Favoring His Own People... Ignoring Procedural Democracy and Undermining the Appointment Committee, Questioning Mayor's Qualifications

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Democratic Party of Korea in the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Representative Assemblymen Jo Sang-ho, Seodaemun 4) strongly condemned Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon for causing the indefinite vacancy of the president position at Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (hereafter SH Corporation) due to unreasonable political appointments.

On the 8th, Song Myung-hwa, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, issued a statement saying, "Recently, Seoul City judged both candidates selected by the SH Corporation Executive Recommendation Committee (hereafter the Recommendation Committee) as unqualified. Accordingly, the Recommendation Committee must reopen the recruitment and recommend candidates again. The process of recruitment, application reception, document and interview screening, and Recommendation Committee recommendation alone takes nearly a month. After that, the personnel hearing by the Seoul Metropolitan Council must also be conducted. With the position already vacant for five months, there are serious concerns about disruptions to Seoul’s housing supply. Mayor Oh’s choice in this matter is very regrettable."

She also claimed that the general consensus is that Mayor Oh’s unqualified judgment was influenced by resistance to the disqualification of candidate Kim Hyun-ah and former head of the Real Estate and Construction Reform Headquarters of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice, Kim Heon-dong.

Previously, Mayor Oh had revealed that he first proposed the SH Corporation recruitment to former KCJ head Kim Heon-dong. Although the mayor has no authority to recommend or appoint beyond nomination rights, by openly disclosing prior consultation with a specific individual and exercising influence over the recruitment process as the final appointing authority, he effectively undermined the fairness and transparency required in hiring the public enterprise president. This act, tantamount to a preselection, sidelined other applicants and seriously damaged the public nature of the public corporation.

Regarding the unqualified judgment of candidate Kim Heon-dong by the Recommendation Committee, Mayor Oh engaged in media manipulation by citing internal meeting materials and individual evaluation by recommendation members, which are supposed to be confidential, misleadingly suggesting that the Seoul Metropolitan Council was responsible for Kim Heon-dong’s disqualification. Furthermore, by now labeling the judgment as a ‘blind unqualified decision’ and deceiving the 10 million Seoul citizens, the Democratic Party of Korea in the Seoul Metropolitan Council emphasized that they cannot help but question whether Mayor Oh is qualified to serve as Seoul’s mayor.

After the disqualification of nominee Kim Hyun-ah, who had a history of extreme double standards and offensive remarks, Seoul citizens and the Seoul Metropolitan Council urged the recommendation of individuals with abilities, vision, and morality that meet citizens’ expectations rather than unreasonable political appointments. Mayor Oh’s audacity and arrogance in responding to this solemn citizen mandate with a reckless ‘simply unqualified’ dismissal without clear and specific reasons is astonishing.

Article 58 of Korea’s Local Public Enterprises Act clearly states that “the president and auditor of a local public enterprise must be appointed from among those recommended by the Executive Recommendation Committee,” affirming the legal and procedural status of the Recommendation Committee. By issuing an unqualified judgment without clear reasons to suit his political preferences, Mayor Oh nullified the Recommendation Committee and reduced SH Corporation to a personal organization.

Therefore, the Democratic Party of Korea in the Seoul Metropolitan Council strongly urges Mayor Oh Se-hoon to immediately stop his coercive power struggle by holding Seoul city administration hostage.

They also sternly warn that they will no longer tolerate Mayor Oh’s “extra-legal behavior ignoring principles and procedures” and his “anti-democratic behavior attempting to dominate citizens.”

They concluded by stating that Mayor Oh must take responsibility for the prolonged vacancy of the SH Corporation president position caused by inappropriate personnel and political judgment, immediately apologize to the 10 million Seoul citizens, and remember that now is the time to strive for stable Seoul city administration through fair personnel appointments based on principles and common sense.

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