Oh Se-hoon’s Hidden Physical Secret... The Story Behind His Extra Year at the Training Institute [Sisa Show]

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Oh Sehoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, changed elementary schools four times and grew up in difficult circumstances. He graduated from Daeil High School and the College of Law at Korea University. He is a former lawyer and passed the 26th bar exam. The date was October 1, 1984. In his 1995 essay collection, "Sometimes Even Lawyers Want to Cry," Oh shared a story related to this experience. He said, "I passed when I felt I had truly done my utmost." In other words, he felt it was relatively easy for him to pass. There is a physical secret related to his exam preparation that he does not wish to disclose. He underwent major surgery on his hip. Because he spent long hours sitting to study, a boil developed on his hip. Thinking little of it and letting time pass, the boil burrowed under his skin. The problem worsened, eventually requiring surgery that took several hours to complete.

Seoul Mayor candidate Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party held a press conference for his candidacy in front of Bosingak, Seoul, on April 27. Photo by Yonhap News

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Normally, those who pass the 26th bar exam would be part of the 16th class at the Judicial Training Institute. However, Oh took three years to graduate from the two-year program, which is why he is considered part of the 17th class. What had happened? Two months before entering the Institute, in January 1985, Oh got married. He had been dating his partner, Professor Song Hyunok, for about seven years at that point, and he was 24 years old. He decided to marry early, believing that being married would help him focus better on his studies at the Institute, so he married early despite parental objections. Their honeymoon was in Jeju Island.

For the first year of their marriage, they lived apart from their parents, and Professor Song frequently cooked various dishes for him. About a year into the Institute, Oh took exams for about 15 days-taking some exams, resting for a few days, and then taking more. The final exam left was the ‘Civil Trial Practice’ exam. As it had a high score weight and was important, Professor Song put extra effort into preparing his meals: laziji for breakfast, kalguksu for lunch, and kongbiji stew for dinner. After enjoying the food, he went to bed, but that’s where the problem started. Around 2 a.m., he began experiencing severe stomach pain and could not sleep. Every 10 minutes, he suffered repeated vomiting and diarrhea with a high fever. Oh’s parents also rushed over, and he received IV fluids at the hospital. Still determined to take the exam, Oh removed the IV needle and went to the test center, but he collapsed from exhaustion and was taken back to the hospital. He was marked absent for the exam. It turned out to be bacterial colitis, commonly known as food poisoning.

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After being marked absent, Oh thought his grades would not be good, and while doing prosecutor training at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, he received a devastating call from the Institute. He was notified that he would have to retake the first-year curriculum at the Institute. The reason was that, to ensure fair evaluation, the subjects for comparison must be the same, but since he missed an entire subject exam, it was impossible to evaluate him, so he had to repeat the process. Though frustrated, Oh had no choice but to accept. He attended the Institute for another year, recording that it was "the most difficult and depressing period of my life." Since then, kongbiji stew has never appeared on his table again.

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