The incumbent mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, received re-election within the mayoral race on June 3. For Oh, although, it was an surprising victory. All of the polls and exit polls signaled his defeat. Up till 7 a.m. on June 4, 13 hours after voting closed, he trailed on the heels of his rival from the Democratic Get together (DP). It was solely round 9 a.m. that it was introduced Oh received the race by 1 %, some 60,000 extra votes than his DP rival, securing one other time period as mayor of South Korea’s capital. It will likely be his fifth time period, albeit nonconsecutively.
A glossy and amiable environmental lawyer within the Nineteen Nineties, Oh entered politics in 2000 as a legislator from immediately’s Individuals Energy Get together (PPP), South Korea’s opposing conservative social gathering. Slightly a refreshing determine with a penchant for the reform of home politics, he turned mayor of Seoul in 2006. Then 45, he was the youngest individual ever to carry that submit. Oh wished to make Seoul extra aesthetically presentable, refashioning the town’s structure and infrastructure. In 2010, UNESCO designated Seoul as a Artistic Metropolis of Design.
His second time period was extra tumultuous. In December 2010, the Seoul Council handed an ordinance to offer free lunch to all elementary college youngsters. Oh denounced the plan as common welfare. He known as for a referendum. He raised the stakes by swearing to resign as mayor ought to the referendum go towards him.
For many Seoulites, maybe probably the most enduring picture of him got here from the August 2011 press convention forward of the referendum. As cameras flashed, he choked up whereas imploring folks to vote towards free college lunches. Topping all of it, he kowtowed on the dais.
No matter the place voters stood on welfare coverage, it was fairly weird to see a mayor staking his profession and crying in entrance of the nation simply to disclaim free meals to high school youngsters. He was pelted from all sides, even his personal social gathering. All of the theatrics and jeopardizing his mayoralty over free college meals had been deemed pointless and out of proportion.
The referendum failed, falling wanting the goal voter turnout. At the least he was true to his phrase; Oh resigned.
For higher or for worse, the incident proved he was able to appearing independently and defying social gathering stress. That pattern harked again to 2004 when he refused to run for the final elections because of the conservative social gathering’s failure to implement the interior overhaul Oh known as for. Nonetheless, stepping down as Seoul’s mayor over such a parochial and innocuous matter was undoubtedly a political fake pas.
From 2012 to 2016, he steered away from politics. Throughout this political hiatus, he lectured on public coverage and frolicked in Peru and Rwanda as an adviser on city administration and environmental coverage. His return to politics was arduous. He did not win a parliamentary seat in each the 2016 and 2020 normal elections. He additionally misplaced the PPP nationwide conference in 2019 for the social gathering management.
Oh made a profitable comeback as mayor of Seoul following the 2021 by-election. His predecessor, Park Gained-soon, had dedicated suicide the earlier 12 months following allegations of sexual harassment by his secretary. The by-election passed off on the top of COVID-19, and scandal after scandal had riddled the ruling DP, collectively boosting Oh’s bid for an additional time period. In 2022, on the finish of Park’s unique time period, Oh was re-elected as Seoul’s mayor for the fourth time.
Together with some run-of-the-mill transportation and social care insurance policies, tax-guzzling environmental tasks marked the previous few years of Oh’s tenure. Nonetheless, most notable was his absence in the course of the Itaewon tragedy in October 2022 – he was overseas in Europe on a enterprise journey. On the time, he was broadly censured for having left Seoul when the biggest unorganized annual occasion was set to happen.
His re-election for the fifth time mirrored not a lot his private competency and charisma because the success of Oh’s rhetoric. On his barnstorming, he continued to exhort the voters to “please maintain Seoul because the final bastion.” The Lee Jae-myung administration represents the DP; the social gathering additionally holds a large majority within the Nationwide Meeting. Because the ruling social gathering was set to sweep up different native governments – apart from the traditionally conservative southeast – Oh dug in his heels because the final conservative standing towards what he claimed was the unbridled train of energy by the chief and legislative branches.
The opposite prong of his tactic was to brazenly tussle with the PPP management earlier than the June native elections. At first, he threatened to not run on the PPP ticket. Oh labeled himself as a rational conservative and staked out Seoul as his turf from which to rebuild South Korea’s conservatism. For that, he wanted to distance himself from the PPP.
The PPP “hasn’t proven convincing change and backbone,” Oh stated. He requested the social gathering sever ties with former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his failed self-coup. In response, the social gathering vilified him, asking, “What has he executed throughout his 4 phrases?” (It’s an irony that greater than a grain of fact comes out of internecine feuds.)
With none viable candidate to switch Oh, nonetheless, the PPP backed down and issued a lukewarm apology to the general public for Yoon’s declaration of martial regulation. Oh ran on the PPP ticket and received.
The voting patterns show that Oh efficiently peddled his picture as a wise, affordable conservative. For district management, the DP received 17 out of the 25 districts comprising Seoul. In among the DP-won districts, most constituents picked DP candidates to steer their districts however Oh for mayor. They’re averse to the PPP however Oh is suitable.
In addition to Oh’s shrewd rhetoric, the opposite cause for his profitable mayoral bid is Seoulites’ need for continuity. He has been a family title for greater than twenty years. He has develop into that secure, if unctuous, determine that these not aware of politics decide on the poll only for the sake of voting. Individuals might hate the PPP, however Oh is extra palatable – even to liberals.
Additionally, amid record-high shopper costs voters are cautious of recent adjustments bleeding their wallets for now. As an example, the federal government’s latest constriction on the proportion of loans property consumers can take out (to curb frantic actual property funding that has been driving up housing costs) has compelled non-homeowners to depend on leases with elevated lease or pay jacked-up premiums (an upfront lump-sum fee for granting of lease the place the tenant is paying nominal or no lease). Greater than half of Seoul residents are tenants, and they’re upset. Oh has been making it clear he would confront the federal government on this.
In the meantime, Oh is a stickler for the age-old apply of fielding extra private-sector housing tasks with much less regulation, which is why property homeowners, builders and traders in Seoul largely love him.
Tourism is one other sector that Seoulites would reasonably see Oh persevering with to oversee. No matter his private contributions, or lack thereof, it was throughout his newest tenure {that a} floodgate of tourism opened to Seoul. From 2023 to 2025, the annual variety of foreigners visiting Seoul had jumped from 8.8 million to virtually 15 million. The Nationwide Museum of Korea ranked third on the planet when it comes to the variety of annual guests. On this context, Oh’s marketing campaign promise to draw 30 million foreigners to Seoul per 12 months by conceiving extra trekking excursions, night-time actions, festivals, and quaint alleys sounded credible.
However this continuity additionally signifies that Oh’s most contentious insurance policies will press on. Essentially the most controversial one is Oh’s Hangang Bus, a community of ferry providers for commuters and vacationers to cross the Han River at a number of factors. The venture kicked off in September 2025 however halted after a month following quite a few incidents and accidents. The ferries ran aground in shallow waters. Technical snags hindered the ferries’ easy operation. The ferries collided with floating objects and underwater infrastructure. Regardless of public opprobrium and concern, Oh is decided to plow forward with the venture.
He additionally intends to ram by means of his redevelopment venture to construct a skyscraper in entrance of Jongmyo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage landmark. UNESCO has already despatched a request for a World Heritage Influence Evaluation, which Oh rejected as a result of it might imply pausing the venture for up to a couple years and even scrapping it. Authorities businesses and Seoul have been locked in administrative and authorized battles over the redevelopment venture’s potential hostile impression on the shrine’s cultural panorama and complete worth.
Oh might gloat over his historic fifth time period as Seoul’s mayor, however there are substantial limitations. He’s at the moment beneath trial for allegedly paying illicit political funds to a pollster who rigged polls in Oh’s favor in order that he may win the PPP nomination to run for the 2021 Seoul by-election. There may be direct proof of cash switch from Oh’s political sponsor to the pollster and a witness confirming the aim for which the cash was wired. Ought to Oh be discovered responsible and obtain a sentence exceeding a positive of 1 million received (about $640), he loses his job.
Along with this authorized danger, the composition of Seoul Council additionally signifies that Oh’s train of administrative powers will probably be considerably hindered. The DP received 80 out of 118 seats. This two-thirds majority can overrule the mayor’s veto of budgetary and regulatory selections.
Oh himself might characterize continuity for Seoul, however his fifth time period might not.
