By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
It has been another busy year for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Earlier this month, he organized a series of winter festivities, including the Seoul Snow Jam 2009, which drew some 260,000 visitors despite the cold weather.
The event was held in the heart of the capital at Gwanghwamun Plaza, which opened in August.
The mayor is trying to turn the plaza into a signature national landmark.
Since declaring that he would run for re-election in 2010, Oh's ambitious plans and conduct are viewed as efforts to garner support for his bid.
But some figures from the mayor's own political party have condemned him for not adhering to the party's set of policies.
In particular, Rep. Won Hee-ryong of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), who is likely to run in the primary election for Seoul Mayor next year, has been critical of Oh's performance.
Ironically, Won urged Oh to run as the GNP candidate for the Seoul mayor position in the 2006 local elections. However, their relationship has since deteriorated.
Won called the Gwanghwamun Plaza project a failure, dubbing it a mere public square and median strip. "Seoul Snow Jam was a symbolic example of the mayor's inclination toward showing off," Won said.
Other competitors are also keen on undermining Oh's tenure. Lee Kye-ahn, a former lawmaker of the United New Democratic Party, officially announced his candidacy for Seoul mayor, Monday. Lee criticized Oh and his policies.
"Seoul's debt has almost doubled in just two years during Oh's term," Lee said at a press conference.
"Promotional expenses are on the rise for publicizing failed projects, such as the Garden Five in eastern Seoul.
"The Yongsan incident remains unresolved, but Oh is wasting the budget on events at Gwanghwamun Plaza."
On his blog "Oh Se-hoon and Seoul," the incumbent mayor defended the significance of the Seoul Snow Jam 2009 in a post titled "Snowboarding of Gwanghwamun Plaza and Seoul Brand Marketing" on Dec. 10.
Oh said that criticism toward the project weighed heavily upon him and that he almost felt like backing out of next year's election.
He explained that the international snowboarding festival was meant to publicize Seoul worldwide as the event was broadcast internationally. "It was a desperate measure to promote the city and draw more visitors," he said.
He emphasized the importance of brand marketing for the city, underlining that Seoul has become the most popular tourist destination among Chinese and Japanese visitors through such promotional initiatives.
"These days, all activities of the Seoul city government are painted as having a political motive," Oh said. "Such circumstances make it hard for a sitting mayor, who has publicized his intention to run for another term, to fully focus on his duties until the end of his tenure."