Oh Se-hoon Seeks Fifth Term...Distancing Himself from Party Leadership

Focusing on Winning Over Centrist Voters
Pursuing an Independent Path with an Innovative Campaign Team

Oh Se-hoon, who has been selected as the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, is differentiating himself from the party leadership as a strategic move to win over centrist voters.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun, confirmed as the People Power Party's candidate for the June 3 local elections, is holding a press conference at the People Power Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on April 20, Mayor Oh plans to register as a preliminary candidate by the end of this month. After that, he intends to officially launch his election campaign committee. Once he is registered as a preliminary candidate, his duties as mayor will be suspended. This will create an environment in which he can fully engage in election campaigning.

Mayor Oh recruited Park Sumin, a current assemblywoman and former rival for the Seoul mayoral candidacy, and former assemblywoman Yoon Heesook as joint heads of the election campaign committee. Instead of using red, the color symbolizing the People Power Party, he is expected to adopt a green color scheme. In politics, green has often been used by centrist or third-party groups, as seen in the 2016 case of the People's Party.

At the press conference announcing his candidacy on the 18th, Mayor Oh wore a light green tie. He stated, "The light green tie represents the color of early spring," and added, "I want to convey the message to citizens that I am pursuing the vision of a garden city." Shin Yul, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Myongji University, commented, "Elections are essentially a competition to win over the 5% of centrist voters. Since Seoul has the highest proportion of swing voters, it is natural that appealing to the center is crucial."

Meanwhile, People Power Party leader Jang Donghyuk returned to party affairs after completing an eight-night, ten-day visit to the United States. However, there has been criticism that he returned "empty-handed." Still, Jang said, "The conservative party network built with the U.S. Republican Party and the communication channels established with the U.S. administration during this visit will serve as valuable assets in strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance."

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