Seoul mayoral candidates hold final press conferences
Jeong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, said Tuesday that "the Wednesday election is one that gives strength to the Lee Jae-myung government," adding that "Seoul must stand behind the nation so that people's lives are protected and South Korea can leap forward again." Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate, bowed his head and acknowledged that "the opposition fell short," but appealed to voters to "leave Seoul — the last bastion — behind."
The two candidates each held a final press conference Tuesday, the day before the election, to deliver their closing messages to the public. Jeong urged voters to support the success of the Lee Jae-myung government, while Oh appealed for votes to keep a check on that government.
Jeong held his press conference at the National Assembly that morning alongside the Democratic Party's candidates for all 25 of Seoul's district mayor seats. "The Lee Jae-myung government must succeed," he said. "To make that happen, we must win the Seoul mayoral race. We must win all 25 district mayor races as well." He added that only by electing him and the party's district candidates together could the Lee government and Seoul "move as one team."
"The government's changes must reach citizens' lives, policies that revive livelihoods must extend to every neighborhood alley, and the transformation of South Korea must become the transformation of Seoul," he said, urging voters to go to the polls Wednesday, cast their ballots for him and choose the Democratic Party's 25 district mayor candidates.
Oh held his final campaign-period press briefing near Hyochang Park station in Yongsan-gu.
He opened with an apology, saying the opposition "fell short" and "failed to give a louder voice to public sentiment." "Our strength and effort were far too lacking to right the collapsed livelihoods of ordinary people," he said. "As someone who has long stood by the conservative party, I feel that responsibility deeply and painfully."
Even if the opposition had been at fault, he said, "checks and balances" could not be abandoned. "If you eliminate the very power to provide oversight simply because oversight was insufficient, the reason for those in power to remain humble — and the reason to listen to the people's voice — disappears along with it," he said.
Oh appealed to voters to "leave Seoul — the last bastion — behind," urging them to go to the polls Wednesday and preserve "the last remaining safety valve" so that South Korea does not tilt entirely to one side.
Turning to Jeong, Oh said his rival was "a novice driver far too unprepared to take charge of Seoul — a capital city that people from around the world visit and whose lifestyle they admire and nearly revere." "We cannot turn the city of Seoul into a practice course for a novice driver," he said, adding that Jeong, whom he called unqualified and underprepared, "should step down even now."
cook@heraldcorp.com
