"Impact on Construction Autonomy... Business Trip Resumed"
Visiting India and Malaysia for 6 Nights and 8 Days from the 4th
Signing Sister City Agreements and Expanding Exchange of Outstanding Talent
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who canceled his overseas business trip a day before departure to respond to the subway strike, has decided to proceed with the original trip schedule. It was judged that the mayor staying in place ahead of negotiations would weaken the bargaining power of the corporation and affect its autonomy, but criticism of the inconsistent administration is intensifying.
On the 3rd, Seoul City announced through spokesperson Shin Seon-jong that "the reason for deciding to cancel the originally scheduled business trip was the simultaneous strike by Korail and Seoul Metro," adding, "The cancellation was a measure to prevent inconvenience to citizens in case of a strike and to avoid the strike itself." It further explained, "Considering that Mayor Oh canceling the trip before the strike negotiations would rather weaken the corporation's bargaining power and affect its autonomy, the trip was resumed."
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is responding to a question related to Myeong Tae-gyun during the announcement of support measures for small business owners held on the 26th at the Seoul City Hall briefing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun
Originally, Mayor Oh planned to visit India and Malaysia from the 4th for 6 nights and 8 days. He was scheduled to participate in a policy-sharing forum held in New Delhi, India, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and discuss cooperation on talent exchange between cities. However, Seoul City announced the cancellation of Mayor Oh's trip on the morning of the same day and expressed its determination to actively respond to the subway strike. Although the subway strike had been announced since last month, the analysis that negotiations would not be easy until the last moment also seemed to have influenced the decision.
The Seoul Metro Workers' Union, the first union of Seoul Metro operating the Seoul subway, and the third union, the Correct Union, have stated that if demands such as withdrawal of restructuring and normalization of personnel operations are not accepted, they will launch a general strike starting on the 6th. The second union, the Seoul Metro Integrated Union affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, is also conducting a strike vote among its members until tomorrow.
Some have analyzed that there might be political reasons behind the cancellation of the trip. Mayor Oh's name has been repeatedly mentioned in connection with the so-called ‘Myeong Tae-gyun Gate,’ and the prosecution is reportedly expected to indict key figures including Mr. Myeong and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun as early as that day. It has been about a year since the Gyeongsangnam-do Election Commission filed complaints and requested investigations against them.
With Mayor Oh's trip reconfirmed, the scheduled local itinerary will proceed as planned. The keywords for this trip are 'policy sharing' and 'talent attraction.' Seoul City plans to share policy experiences that can solve development challenges of these cities in areas such as urban management, transportation, resource circulation, and disaster safety with India and Malaysia, two countries with a young population averaging under 30 years old. It will also actively promote attracting global outstanding talents such as international students and advanced industry personnel.
The first schedule includes meeting the Chief Minister of Delhi to sign a sister city agreement and delivering a keynote speech at the 'Seoul-Delhi Policy Sharing Forum,' presenting Seoul's policy achievements in transportation and resource circulation. There will also be meetings with high-ranking political and government officials in India. In Chennai, Mayor Oh will visit Hyundai Motor factories operating production facilities with an annual capacity of about 820,000 units at the 1st and 2nd plants, meet executives and employees, and listen to the difficulties of about 30 local large, medium, and small enterprises and startup companies. Moving to Malaysia, he will sign a sister city agreement at Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Then, through a keynote speech at the policy-sharing forum, he will present Seoul's policy experiences in urban management and disaster safety and seek sustainable development plans for the two cities.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
