Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, said on the 10th that he is "not considering it at all" regarding the possibility of leaving the People Power Party.
At a New Year's press briefing with the city hall press corps for 2026 held at Seoul City Hall that morning, Oh said this when asked to "state your position on the possibility of leaving the party," saying, "You are asking me to be clear, so I will be firm."
Oh has been clashing daily with People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok. With the party even proceeding with disciplinary measures against Seoul Party Chair Bae Hyun-jin, some are raising the possibility that Oh will leave the party.
Oh said, "Right now, something unprecedented in party history is happening," adding, "This so-called purge politics, this form of driving political opponents out of the party, is not politics; it is a deviation from politics."
He went on, "I am not talking about each individual's likes and dislikes or right and wrong. While running a party and doing politics, expelling people who think differently entirely out of the party, excluding them so they cannot engage in politics, disciplining them so they cannot play a role, and referring them to the ethics committee—this is not desirable politics, in my view."
As for speculation in some quarters that he has his eye on the party leadership, Oh said, "Can I run the party and be mayor at the same time?" adding, "I made it clear that I will protect Seoul."
He added, "If you look at how I expressed my resolve, you would naturally think, 'That person is obsessed with making (Seoul) a global top 5 city, obsessed with protecting Seoul, obsessed with balanced development between Gangnam and Gangbuk.'"
When asked about the "timing of an official declaration to run for Seoul mayor," Oh said, "For a sitting mayor, picking a date to declare a run does not seem very meaningful," but added, "I judge that it is still early."
He continued, "There is no reason to rush when the party has not even announced the primary schedule."