Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor set to make the city's first-ever bid for a fifth term, said regarding the June 3 local election for Seoul mayor, "If we yield Seoul, the last brake to stop this administration's runaway drive will disappear, and South Korea's democracy will be in mortal danger."
On the 18th, Oh held a press conference at the People Power Party's central headquarters in Yeouido immediately after being confirmed as the party's Seoul mayoral candidate, saying, "This local election is not a routine vote that comes every four years but the final battlefield for restoring the rule of law and balancing democracy," and stated accordingly.
He said, "How great must your worries have been because conservative politics failed to do its part. I also fully acknowledge that responsibility," and added, "But even a company on the brink of default must keep at least one competent employee if it is to remake itself and be reborn as an innovative corporations."
He continued, "If we win thanks to the great choice of citizens, I will take it as a solemn order to rebuild the opposition," and said, "I will stand at the vanguard on the path of a great conservative overhaul and devote myself to the end with the resolve of 'burning the boats.'"
Oh also unleashed criticism aimed at the government and the ruling party.
He criticized, "The real estate chaos we are witnessing now is exactly what the Democratic Party of Korea administration did five years ago," adding, "In Seoul as well, during the 10 years when the Democratic Party treated redevelopment and reconstruction as sins, the supply of dwellings entered an ice age, and left-wing civic groups turned City Hall into an ATM."
Oh presented five visions for "a warmer, healthier special city of quality of life, Seoul": ▲ a Seoul that grows together ▲ a Seoul with homes ▲ a Seoul without mobility gaps ▲ a healthy city, Seoul ▲ Seoul Tour-nomics with strengthened tourism industry.
Earlier, the party's nomination committee said that Oh won the Seoul mayoral primary over lawmaker Park Su-min (first term, Gangnam-eul in Seoul) and former lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook and was confirmed as the candidate.