Hong Jun-pyo's Advice to Withdraw Kim Hyun-ah's SH President Nomination: Did Oh Se-hoon Take Action?

People Power Party's Hong Jun-pyo Points Out Inappropriateness of Kim Hyun-ah SH President Nominee on July 30 SNS, Kim Announces Resignation Intention on August 1 Afternoon

Hong Joon-pyo, Member of the People Power Party

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Hong Joon-pyo, a leading presidential candidate of the People Power Party, has a close relationship with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

First, Representative Hong is a senior alumnus of Korea University to Mayor Oh.

Moreover, when Mayor Oh held a residents' referendum in August 2011 on free school meals, the low voter turnout caused the vote count to be canceled, leading to his resignation as the 34th Mayor of Seoul while Representative Hong was the leader of the Grand National Party.

After the failure of the free school meals referendum, Mayor Oh attempted to visit Representative Hong’s residence in Dongdaemun-gu to persuade him to resign from the mayoral position, but the attempt failed as Representative Hong did not meet him, marking an unfavorable connection.

Exactly 10 years later, on July 30, 2021, Representative Hong criticized Mayor Oh on his SNS regarding Kim Hyun-ah, the SH president nominee, stating, “Appointing a multi-homeowner as the person responsible for supplying affordable housing is truly an inappropriate exercise of personnel authority.”

In particular, he said, “Kim Hyun-ah was pointed out as an improper appointment for being a three-homeowner when appointed as Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport under the Moon Jae-in administration, but if she herself owns four homes, that is a ‘ridiculous matter.’ While Mayor Oh probably did not know this when pushing for the appointment, if such inappropriate facts were revealed later, the nomination should be withdrawn,” offering a mild admonition.

Having been a former Saenuri Party presidential candidate and a leading next presidential candidate of the People Power Party, Representative Hong’s advice might have carried significant weight.

On the 1st, Kim Hyun-ah, the SH president nominee, posted a resignation statement on her Facebook, concluding the matter.

Thus, since Mayor Oh appointed former Representative Kim Hyun-ah as the SH president nominee on the 5th of last month, the procedure to select a new SH president nominee has begun after 27 days.

Meanwhile, along with Kim, who was the first-choice nominee, Jeong Yoo-seung, former head of SH Urban Regeneration Headquarters and the second-choice nominee, is expected to emerge as a strong candidate.

Jeong, a housing expert, graduated from Hanyang University’s Department of Architecture, entered Seoul City through the technical civil service exam, served as Director of the Housing and Architecture Bureau and Deputy Mayor of Gangnam-gu, and later served as head of SH Urban Regeneration Headquarters.