Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
New Seoul mayor may seek to reverse predecessor's policies
Oh Se-hoon, third from right, the Seoul mayoral candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, bumps fists with a party member at party headquarters on Seoul's Yeouido, Wednesday, before an exit poll was announced. Oh gained 59 percent in the preliminary exit poll jointly released by three broadcasters. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
Oh Se-hoon of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who again became Seoul mayor following Wednesday's by-election, is expected to revive some of the signature policies he pursued previously while serving as mayor of the capital between 2006 and 2011.
But political watchers say it remains to be seen whether he can really carry them out as his term will last about 15 months until the next local elections are held in June 2022.
Oh gained 57.5 percent of vote at the end of the final vote tally compared to ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Park Young-sun's 39 percent.
Oh is likely to revive his signature “Han River Renaissance projects,” aimed at developing the river as a major tourist attraction ― which he had pursued during his previous terms of Seoul mayor.
He is expected to bring up medium- and long-term projects he had pursued, including the Han River Renaissance, Mount Nam Renaissance and Design Seoul, which were halted or completely abolished after his predecessor Park Won-soon took the office.
Oh also said he would break down housing regulations through a “speed housing supply project.” He promised to ease height regulations for apartment buildings in the city and expand commercial zoning in parts of the city outside the wealthiest three districts of Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa.
He also vowed to supply 30,000 public housing units and lower property tax for households with one residential property without income.
To welcome foreign companies, Oh promised to establish a “regulation-free zone” where businesses can get support packages for financing and taxation.
However, political experts were skeptical of whether he can really carry out the projects, which require years of time and also coordination with the central government. They say the new mayor won't be able to bring drastic changes to ongoing projects because this year's budget for city affairs had already been set and allocated and it will also take a month or two for him to catch up on municipal affairs and appoint aides.
“The remaining term is one year and three months, which is an obvious limitation for offering a vision for the city,” said Lee Jun-han, a professor of political science department at Incheon National University. The next local elections are slated for June 1, 2022, and the term for the new local government heads will start the following month in July.
“The new mayor is likely to hurry to come up with his pledges for a second term in the 2022 local elections. In addition, this year's budget was already allocated in December last year, so there is not much space for him to carry out new projects.”
In order to fulfill his election pledges he presented during the campaign period, Oh must pass a 2022 budget review through the National Assembly and the Seoul Metropolitan Council by December this year.
Hwang Tae-soon, a political commentator, said the review and budget allocation is expected to be difficult for Oh as most members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council ― 101 out of 109 ― belong to the ruling DPK.
“Except for Cho Eun-hee, the head of Seocho District Office, all heads of other 24 district offices also belong to the DPK. Oh will also face challenges in regard to the housing policies as the central government has the right to make the final decision,” Hwang said.