In the June 3 local elections, with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon elected after a razor-thin contest over Democratic Party of Korea candidate Chong Won-o, some analysts say the difference in the two camps' banner strategies swayed voters in the final stretch.
Oh's campaign broke down key issues in Seoul's 25 districts to the level of 427 neighborhoods and reflected them in the banner text, while Chong's side mainly put forward messages emphasizing cooperation with President Lee Jae-myung.
On the 10th, photos comparing the banners that Oh and Chong hung across Seoul during the campaign were shared on social media and multiple online communities. Oh's banners often addressed day-to-day, close-to-home issues such as area-specific development, transportation, and park creation. By contrast, Chong's banners mainly carried phrases emphasizing cooperation with the central government, such as "a Seoul mayor who works well with President Lee Jae-myung."
In fact, the wording on Oh's banners differed by neighborhood even within the same district. In Sanggye 10-dong, Nowon District, a banner read "create an economic hub for the northeast region in Sanggye and Chang-dong," while in Sanggye 2-dong, it said "swift completion of general housing redevelopment projects." In Sadang 1-dong and Sadang 5-dong, Dongjak District, banners read "break ground on the Isu–Gwacheon complex tunnel, one-stop fix for traffic problems," and "develop Ggachisan Neighborhood Park into a close-to-home park," respectively.
Chong's banners are being assessed as having relatively little regional differentiation. Representative phrases included "a Seoul mayor who works well with President Lee Jae-myung" and "redevelopment and reconstruction proceeding step by step for faster and safer results." While Chong's camp emphasized the ability to work with the central government as the ruling party's candidate, some point out that, from voters' perspective, it was harder to grasp concrete changes in their own neighborhoods.
Political circles say this difference in banner strategy may have influenced the votes of some moderates and unaffiliated voters. In this election, Oh won 49.22% with 2,575,819 votes, edging out Chong, who took 48.07% with 2,515,560 votes. The gap between the two candidates was just 1.15 percentage points, or 60,259 votes.
A political source said, "Oh was suspended from duty during the campaign, but as the sitting mayor, he likely had broad information on Seoul City and local issues," adding, "Chong's three-term experience as Seongdong District chief was a strength, but it may not have been easy to grasp neighborhood-level issues across all of Seoul as thoroughly as Oh."
There is also analysis that, in an ultra-close race where it was difficult to predict the outcome until the very end, close-to-home messages reached voters more directly. Because local elections show how the areas where voters live will change, no less than the central political landscape, banners that pinpointed local issues in concrete terms are seen to have helped highlight Oh's steadiness and ability to execute.
Oh's campaign also said it deliberately prepared a strategy of region-specific, tailored messages. A campaign official said, "We produced and hung two election banners for each of Seoul's 427 neighborhoods, for a total of 854," adding, "We sought to include as many local issues as possible on each banner."