Oh Se-hoon: "I Apologize for the Confusion That May Have Burdened Citizens" (Summary)

Change of business trip schedule since morning... Cause of 'Subway Strike'
Reversed after 4 hours due to concerns over weakening negotiation rights of Transportation Corporation
"Heavy feet due to strike notice... Apologize for the confusion"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon officially apologized for reversing his decision to cancel an overseas business trip in response to the subway strike within half a day. Mayor Oh had planned a trip to India and Malaysia from the 4th to the 11th but decided to cancel the schedule due to concerns about weakening the bargaining power of Seoul Transportation Corporation. However, he reversed the decision after about four hours. The confusion stemmed from political judgment, and criticism over the inconsistent administration seems inevitable.

At a press conference held at Seoul City Hall that afternoon, Mayor Oh said regarding the controversy over the India-Malaysia trip, "As the union of Seoul Transportation Corporation, the lifeline for Seoul citizens, announced a strike, I felt heavy about leaving for the trip," adding, "There was confusion in the morning because I thought it might cause inconvenience to citizens and possibly harm them, and I apologize for this."

Yonhap News

He further explained the reason for deciding to proceed with the trip again, saying, "I judged that my presence might rather become an obstacle in the negotiation process between labor and management," and "I decided to proceed with the trip as planned, believing that going on the trip would help facilitate frank negotiations between labor and management."

Earlier that day, Seoul City abruptly canceled the overseas trip planned for Mayor Oh and the press corps starting the next day. This was to respond to the subway strike scheduled from the 6th. Above all, the first union of Seoul Transportation Corporation, which operates the Seoul subway, and the third union, Olbareun Union, maintained their stance to launch a general strike from the 6th if demands such as withdrawal of restructuring and normalization of personnel operations were not accepted. The second union, the Seoul Transportation Corporation Integrated Union affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, also planned to conduct a strike vote among its members by the next day.

However, after just over four hours, Seoul City reversed the cancellation of Mayor Oh’s trip and announced it would proceed as scheduled. Through a notice from spokesperson Shin Seon-jong, it was stated, "The reason for deciding to cancel the originally scheduled trip was the simultaneous strikes by KORAIL and Seoul Transportation Corporation," adding, "The cancellation was a measure to prevent inconvenience to citizens and to avoid the strike." It was further explained, "Considering that canceling the trip before the strike negotiations might weaken the corporation’s bargaining power and affect its autonomy, the trip was resumed."

Some viewed the recent ongoing political controversies as a factor in this confusion. Mayor Oh’s name has been repeatedly mentioned in connection with the so-called 'Myeong Tae-gyun Gate,' and the prosecution is expected to indict key figures including Mr. Myeong and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun as early as that day. This comes about a year after the Gyeongsangnam-do Election Commission filed complaints and requested investigations against them.

Seoul City clearly drew a line regarding such interpretations. A Seoul City official said, "Active response is necessary as citizen inconvenience due to the subway strike is anticipated," and "This is unrelated to political situations."

Mayor Oh also held up a complaint form at the event. He plans to file complaints on the same day against Mr. Myeong, Kang Hye-kyung, who raised and spread related suspicions, former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, and others. Mayor Oh stated, "We will firmly begin legal action against the fraudulent group that undermines election fairness and threatens democracy, as well as the false forces that amplify and distort the truth." He identified the criminal and fraudulent group as Myeong Tae-gyun, Kang Hye-kyung, and Kim Young-sun, and the sympathizing group as Yeom Tae-young (Democratic Party lawmaker), Seo Yong-joo (Director of Maek Political and Social Research Institute), Newstapa, and Newstomato. The complaint, being prepared by a law firm, is scheduled to be submitted to the prosecution within the day.

After submitting the complaint, Mayor Oh will embark on the planned 6-night, 8-day trip to India and Malaysia starting from the 4th. Seoul City plans to share policy experiences to address development challenges in urban management, transportation, resource circulation, and disaster safety with these cities. It also aims to actively attract global outstanding talents such as international students and advanced industry personnel from these two countries, where the average age of the population is under 30.

The first schedule includes meeting the Chief Minister of Delhi State to sign a sister city agreement and delivering a keynote speech at the ‘Seoul-Delhi Policy Sharing Forum’ to present Seoul’s policy achievements in transportation and resource circulation. Meetings with senior political and administrative officials in India are also planned. In Chennai, Mayor Oh will visit Hyundai Motor’s plants 1 and 2, which operate production facilities with an annual capacity of about 820,000 vehicles, meet executives and employees, and listen to the difficulties of about 30 local large, medium, and small enterprises and startups. Upon moving to Malaysia, a sister city agreement will be signed at Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Following this, through a keynote speech at the policy sharing forum, Seoul’s policy experiences in urban management and disaster safety will be presented to explore sustainable development plans for the two cities.