[Park Jong-il Autonomous News] Has Mayor Oh Se-hoon Really Changed at Age 60 ('Eosun')?

In his youth, Oh Se-hoon, the 4th and 5th Mayor of Seoul, returned as a 'three-term mayor' after a 10-year hiatus. Seoul city officials positively evaluate that his attitude and passion for public welfare have changed significantly... However, it remains to be seen if he will maintain his 'original intention'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Mayor Oh Se-hoon has truly changed” “He is not the same Mayor Oh Se-hoon from the 4th and 5th terms of the civilian government.”

This is the evaluation from Seoul city officials A and B.

They say Mayor Oh has returned with a completely transformed image, 180 degrees different from before.

Mayor Oh began his political career by winning a seat in the 16th National Assembly in 2006 at the age of 39, after hosting a popular TV program.

Later, at the age of 45, he was elected Mayor of Seoul and even served as a two-term mayor.

Having been a vigorous National Assembly member and a two-term Seoul mayor at a young age, how could he not have been energetic?

Back then, city officials also had a hard time. Mayor Oh exercised leadership that encouraged ‘competition’ among senior officials. He even carried out an unprecedented dismissal of 3% of incompetent officials.

He also had major conflicts with the Seoul Metropolitan Council over free school meals for elementary students in 2011, which eventually led to his resignation.

Moreover, in the 5th term local elections, except for four district mayors in Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa, and Jungnang districts, the remaining 21 district mayors were from the Democratic Party, causing conflicts. In particular, the Democratic district mayors struggled because the grants were not properly distributed to the autonomous districts.

How bad was it that he earned the nickname ‘5 Se-hoon’?

Afterwards, Mayor Oh ran for the 20th National Assembly seat in Jongno, ran for party leader in 2019, and ran for the 21st National Assembly seat in Gwangjin in 2020, but was consecutively defeated.

It seemed his political career would end. A 10-year gap is enormous for a politician. In that sense, it is no exaggeration to say Mayor Oh is a ‘politician born with heavenly luck.’

However, due to the sudden death of Mayor Park Won-soon, the April 7 by-election gave him a chance to revive, and politician Oh Se-hoon was reborn.

It has been almost two months since Mayor Oh returned to work with the title of three-term Seoul mayor.

From day one, Mayor Oh showed a humble approach. His first move was to visit Kim In-ho, chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council. He bowed deeply. With such an attitude, Chairman Kim could not but respond respectfully.

Like the saying ‘you cannot spit on a smiling face,’ the doors of the council seem to be opening one by one.

This week, Mayor Oh has been ordering lunchboxes in his office and holding meetings with standing committee members to greet them and discuss current issues.

As a result of these efforts, the Seoul city organizational restructuring plan is expected to pass the Planning and Economy Committee review on the 7th, followed by a Democratic Party members’ meeting, and then the plenary session on the 10th.

If this happens, Mayor Oh will be able to make personnel appointments for department heads and below among Seoul city employees.

The evaluation of Mayor Oh by Seoul city department heads and other employees is also ‘positive.’

Director C said, “Mayor Oh’s awareness of people’s livelihood is exceptional,” and “He shows a very humble attitude even when holding meetings with department heads.”

He said this is a clearly different image from Mayor Oh’s past mayoral days.

In particular, Mayor Oh is highly praised for encouraging remarks during meetings with executives, such as “I have high expectations because the director is doing this” and “I look forward to good policies.”

Director C said, “During the mayoral election, Mayor Oh promised citizens that he would not run for the presidency and would serve as Seoul mayor one more time, so he seems to be calmly focusing on his duties.”

He also mentioned that compared to the previous mayor’s time, when there was much interference from secretariat staff from civic groups, Mayor Oh’s team is smaller and easier to work with, including special advisor Kang Cheol-won and Chief Secretary Jung Sang-hoon.

Especially, Special Advisor Kang Cheol-won, who first met Mayor Oh as his aide during his National Assembly days and later served as Seoul’s Political Affairs Officer, is regarded as a rare person who has endured for a considerable 10 years despite other close aides leaving.

Moreover, his consistently humble character seems to have played a role in Mayor Oh receiving such positive evaluations today.

In contrast, during the previous mayor’s term, secretaries in charge of each department would intervene in department heads’ work under the pretext of the mayor’s orders, making things very difficult.

Also, at a recent meeting with labor union representatives, Mayor Oh accepted a proposal to grant 2-3 days of consolation leave for officials struggling due to COVID-19 without hesitation.

Of course, this behavior of Mayor Oh is interpreted as being influenced by the fact that less than a year remains until next year’s local elections.

On April 8, his first day at work, Mayor Oh Se-hoon made his first move by visiting Kim In-ho, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and requested cooperative governance.

Since there are more than 30,000 Seoul city employees, including headquarters and business offices, their evaluation can directly affect next year’s election decisively.

It is highly regarded as very positive that Mayor Oh, who has returned at the age of 60 (Eojun, meaning an age when one’s ears become obedient and can objectively listen and understand all words), shows a different image from the past.

However, another former high-ranking Seoul city official said, “The late Mayor Park Won-soon also initially made employees comfortable but gradually changed as he understood the work,” and “Although Mayor Oh has shown a humble attitude shortly after taking office, we need to watch carefully whether he maintains his original intention.” This pointed remark drew attention.

We only hope that Mayor Oh, the leader of 9.6 million Seoul citizens, does not lose the ‘original intention’ he reaffirmed on his first day at work.