Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon faces steep uphill battle against city’s ruling bloc

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon from the main opposition People Power Party faces a steep wall of resistance within the city’s political scene, dominated as it is by the ruling Democratic Party. This is likely to serve as a roadblock to his reelection next year.

The council of district mayors announced Thursday that it was rejecting Oh’s proposal to jointly submit a tax break proposal to the central government.

That proposal called for a discount on property taxes on real estate assets valued under 900 million won ($798,233), as opposed to the current 600 million won.

“There was an opinion that we should consider how deprived and alienated non-homeowners in Seoul could feel, as they take up nearly 50 percent of Seoul citizens,” said Lee Dong-jin, mayor of Dobong-gu in northern Seoul, who serves as head of the council, in a press briefing Thursday.

“Some have voiced that the property tax discount measure on those owning highly priced real estate properties could make average people without homes feel deprived.”

That view was shared by the vast majority of district mayors. Of the 25 district governments in Seoul, 24 are led by politicians affiliated with the ruling party.

Cho Eun-hee of Seocho-gu is the only member of the council affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party and the only district mayor who publicly voiced support for Oh’s idea.

The Thursday decision clearly exemplifies how much opposition Oh will face in keeping his campaign promises.

His vows to tackle the housing crisis and have an immediate impact on employment and economic growth cannot be fulfilled without cooperation from the Seoul Metropolitan Council and the council of district mayors, many of whose members publicly opposed his run for mayor in the first place.

Even administrative orders from Oh would in most cases need approval and support from members of the municipal council. Opposition from individual district mayors could prevent an order from actually coming to life.

Of the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s 109 members, 101 are affiliated with the Democratic Party, six with the People Power Party and the remaining two with smaller left-wing parties.

The city’s legislative branch had asked Oh to renounce his bid for the mayoral seat before he was elected, saying he had a “history of failure.”

“Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon threw away the Seoul mayoral seat himself by opposing an eco-friendly free lunch plan for schools,” 12 three-term Seoul council members said in a press briefing March 25.

“He set himself up for a road to failure by recklessly giving up his administrative duty.”

The general public’s negative sentiment toward the ruling bloc is the main factor working in Oh’s favor in his uphill battle against the city council and district mayors.

In an April 7 by-election, Oh defeated Democratic Party rival Park Young-sun 57.5 percent to 39 percent, claiming victory in all 25 of the city’s districts.

Experts have said the members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and the city’s district mayors will feel pressured to do what voters want to maintain their seats in next year’s general elections, which are to be held simultaneously with the presidential election.

By Ko Jun-tae (ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)