Who Is the Winner of the O Se-hoon vs. City Council Fight and the O Se-hoon vs. Kim In-ho Fight?

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Faces Intense Criticism from Majority of City Council over Budget Cuts for 'Jicheon Renaissance' and 'Sangsaeng Housing'; Council Speaker Kim In-ho Unfazed, Sees No Loss in Confrontation

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (left) and Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman Kim In-ho are meeting and greeting each other with a handshake.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is engaging in a conflict with the Seoul Metropolitan Council from the very beginning of the new year.

This year is marked by major political events, including the presidential election on March 9 and the local elections on June 1, making it a critical year in the political arena.

Both ruling and opposition parties are expected to fight a life-or-death battle this year without a doubt.

Amid this, Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been challenging the Seoul Metropolitan Council, where the Democratic Party of Korea holds an overwhelming majority, since the start of the year.

Despite more than ten days passing since the passage of the new Seoul city budget at the end of last year, Mayor Oh has been attacking the council through SNS.

Specifically, the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho) cut 6 billion KRW out of the 7.5 billion KRW budget related to the 'Jicheon Renaissance' project submitted by the city.

'Jicheon Renaissance' is a project aimed at revitalizing and transforming about 70 small streams in Seoul, with pilot projects underway at Jeongneungcheon, Hongjecheon, and Dorimcheon. Despite the basic plan expected to be completed by February, the entire 4.4 billion KRW budget was cut, preventing progress such as design orders, which Mayor Oh criticized.

On the 7th, Mayor Oh also posted on SNS, "The council, dominated by the Democratic Party, cut 97.4% of the approximately 4 billion KRW budget for the newly introduced private-participation long-term rental housing (coexistence housing) this year, blocking attempts to alleviate the monthly rent crisis," adding, "If they empathized with the pain of 'monthly rent refugees,' such a decision would never have been made."

On the 11th, Mayor Oh criticized, "The council drastically cut budgets for projects aimed at single-person households, especially in the 'safety' sector, without thorough review," noting that the budget for the Safe Village Security Guard project was reduced from 2.76 billion KRW to 950 million KRW, a 65.6% cut, and the smart security light replacement project budget was cut from 3 billion KRW to 1.96 billion KRW.

Out of 110 members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, 99 belong to the Democratic Party of Korea. Including former councilors Kim Dal-ho (Seongdong) and Kim Pyeong-nam (Gangnam), who left the party, the number effectively rises to 101, meaning the Democratic Party holds over 90% of the seats.

Because of this, Mayor Oh is emphasizing this point, seemingly aiming to promote the message that "governance is impossible due to the Democratic Party's majority."

This response from Mayor Oh appears to be a calculated move to avoid political losses ahead of the presidential and local elections.

Therefore, it seems likely that Mayor Oh will continue to highlight this issue whenever possible. Especially, there is a prevailing analysis that fighting with the council will not harm Mayor Oh as he emerges as a potential presidential candidate in the next or subsequent elections.

For this reason, the Democratic Party's Seoul Metropolitan Council issued a statement the day before under the name of Representative Councilor Jo Sang-ho, condemning Mayor Oh's remarks and actions that use city governance for personal political gain and incite conflict.

The Democratic Party criticized, "Stop immediately the two-faced and selfish political behavior that consistently blames others while taking credit."

Democratic Party councilors also view Mayor Oh's attacks on the council as a calculated move.

Regarding Mayor Oh's continued attacks on the council, Chairman Kim In-ho of the Seoul Metropolitan Council pointed out on SNS on the 7th that "Mayor Oh's mention of budget cuts for 'coexistence housing' was a misfire." He explained, "During the Budget and Accounts Special Committee review, Mayor Oh accepted the budget cuts and did not request any restoration," adding, "It is very regrettable to bring up a matter that was concluded through compromise and agreement."

Chairman Kim is confronting Mayor Oh based on their experience of reaching a 'final deal' on the new year budget at the end of last year.

This is because Chairman Kim, as the council representative, is preparing to run for Dongdaemun District Mayor in the upcoming local elections, and fighting against the Seoul Mayor, who was elected with the second-highest votes after the president, is not a losing battle. Especially, it is natural that the weaker party benefits when fighting a heavyweight.

Although the Seoul Metropolitan Council is in a difficult position due to Mayor Oh's attacks, Chairman Kim finds himself in a peculiar position where he benefits from the conflict, attracting attention.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council will effectively adjourn after the February extraordinary session, as the presidential election is imminent.

Since both Mayor Oh and Chairman Kim are politicians, it is expected that they will continue their politically calculated actions for the time being.

A political insider commented, "Considering Mayor Oh's political gain from criticizing the Seoul Metropolitan Council dominated by the ruling party and Chairman Kim In-ho's fight against the heavyweight politician Mayor Oh, it seems that neither side is engaging in a losing battle."

Meanwhile, the Seoul city government has requested a reconsideration of the basic ordinance that grants the council the right to speak regarding Mayor Oh and others.

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