Conservative Voters Choose Incumbent Oh Se-Hoon in Seoul Mayoral Elections

Disappointed by Current Gov’t Anti-Real Estate Policy

In Seoul, during the mayoral elections, conservative candidate Oh Se-Hoon from the People Power (PPP) wins the elections by 48.79% by overtaking the liberal candidate Heong Won-oh of the Democratic Party. 

This will be his fifth term as Mayor as he has served as Mayor four times with his first term being in 2006, 2010 after he won a second term, 2021 and 2022. 

About 96% of the votes were counted up with the margin between the two candidates being at 14,923 votes. But about 340,000 votes have remained uncounted. This is also the first time Chong was taken over by Oh. 

According to The Chosun Daily, “In the early stages of the count, Chong was ahead of Oh by up to 30 percentage points, but after midnight, the gap between the two candidates began to narrow rapidly.” 

But experts said that Chong should have won the race. The Democratic Party won 12 of the 16 provincial gubernatorial and mayoral posts up for grabs. Specifically, he was actually ahead of Oh by 30 percentage points but the gap between the two candidates quickly narrowed and the margin shrunk to five percentage points. 

“Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-Rae told reporters his party’s defeat in the Seoul race was “painful” though he thanked voters for the wins in other races,” The Associated Press reports. 

The PPP won four which included the mayoral race for Seoul. They also hold 14 of the 16 regional leadership posts as they have more allies at gubernatorial and mayoral posts. Out of 25 districts, Oh won 10 which include the three affluent districts in Gangnam where Oh has huge popularity. 

Prosecutor-turned Elder Stataman Park Chul-Un thinks that the election expressed both support for the current administration and expectations for the conservative and opposition party. He said that excessive taxation could have caused a shift to more conservative win. 

“Voters seemed to cast their ballots for Oh because they disapproved of the current government’s anti-real estate speculation policy and of hefty taxes on their property,” Park said. 

With regards to the rise of conservatism in South Korea, Park also said that a conservative leader is important for a balance of power. 

“I view the election results not as a sign of rising of conservatives but as an expression of their thoughts that the liberal government (DP party) needs to be checked by the conservatives (PPP),” said Park. 

Former Kenyan Ambassador to Seoul Ngovi Kitau had wished his congratulations to Oh Se-Hoon remembering the support he provided to Kenya during his term. 

“He gave us space in the library to display Kenyan literature books. He also hosted dinner for me several times, and organized a meeting with President Lee Myung-Bak. I will always remember the support he accorded us,” Kitau said. “Congratulations.”

In a joint exit poll, Chong led the main opposition party 51.4% to 46% by local “Big Three” broadcasters SBS, MBC, and KBS. Another poll by JTBC showed that Chong had a wider lead at 53.5% against Oh at 42.9%. 

The joint exit poll showed a sharp gender and age divide in the mayoral race. Amongst the younger voters, Oh drew stronger support leading Chong from 56.8% to 35.9% among voters in their 20s and from voters in their 30s, Chong went from 59.7% to 36.7%. 

Chong`s strongest voters were much older with 60.7% of voters in their 50s and 53.2% of voters in their 40s. But PPP candidate Oh`s strongest voters were in their 70s or older at 71.1% and 60.4% from voters in their 60s. 

The PPP called for the suspension of vote counting after it was reported that there were ballot shortages that caused delays at polling stations across Seocho, Dongjak, Gwangjin, Songpa, and Gangnam. 

Floor Leader of the PPP, Song Eon-Seog urged the National Election Commission to halt the count as he described the incident as “a serious violation of voting rights.” In addition Oh Se-Hoon added that ballot counting should be suspended “until preliminary measures are completed” in affected areas. 

If Chong`s victory is confirmed, he is expected to begin his term on July 1 as mayor of Seoul but until then, Oh Se-Hoon is the current mayor of Seoul. 

Chong was the former mayor of Seongdong-gu, an eastern Seoul district that includes Seongsu-dong which he built most of his profile on. He stepped down on March 4th to join the Seoul mayoral race.