Oh Se-hoon calls for conservative unity, warns Lee Jae Myung government seeks control over judiciary

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon sharply criticized the Lee Jae Myung government's governance and its alleged pressure on the judiciary, calling on conservatives to unite.

Appearing on the TV Chosun political talk show "Gangjeokdeul" on Saturday, Oh said the Democratic Party of Korea is "losing even the right to call itself a pro-democracy force," in remarks directed at the party's moves to launch a parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae and pursue impeachment proceedings against Jo.

"What democracy means is the rule of law," Oh said. "Respecting the law in its substantive sense is the instinct of a democratic force."

Oh said he was troubled by what he described as the ruling party treating law as a tool of governance and the judiciary as a subject of control. "Using a legislative majority to pass shoddy laws that trample on the spirit of the Constitution, and wielding them as instruments of rule — that has become second nature to them," Oh said.

Oh raised the issue of Supreme Court justice appointments, saying President Lee could appoint 22 of the 26 justices whose terms fall within the presidential term. "When I did the math before his term ends, that comes to more than 84 percent," Oh said.

Oh called that "yet another reason the People Power Party must win the general election," warning that a loss would allow the current trajectory to continue. "Then we would truly have an absolute monarch," Oh said.

Oh made clear that broad conservative consolidation — beyond factional or personality-driven alliances — was necessary to prevent what he called an era of absolute monarchy, as he addressed divisions within the conservative camp.

Responding to alliance proposals raised by Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok, Oh said all talk of various alliances had merit. "Look at the politics of the Lee Jae Myung government — it has obviously seized executive power, and isn't it plain that it intends to bring the judiciary under its heel as well?" Oh said.

"We are up against an absolute monarch, so what does it matter who you meet or who you are close to?" Oh said. "Everyone must pool their strength."

Oh also signaled openness to working with both former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon and current PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok. "There is no one I cannot meet and no one I cannot join forces with — that goes for both Rep. Han Dong-hoon and PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok," Oh said.

Oh stopped short of giving a direct answer on whether Han should be allowed to rejoin the party, saying the matter must be handled "as carefully as crossing thin ice or handling a glass vessel." "Is there anything that gets done by talking ahead of action?" Oh said.

Oh said politics ultimately comes down to winning elections. "Politics is not something you do to showcase your political philosophy," Oh said.

Oh said the PPP's powerlessness was a direct consequence of electoral defeat. "The party stands helpless while the judiciary is mocked and humiliated like this — that is the People Power Party. It is because we have no strength," Oh said.

Oh said winning that strength would require swallowing one's pride, stressing the need for pragmatic alliance-building to secure a conservative electoral victory.

On the rise in his presidential approval ratings following an acquittal in an appeals court ruling, Oh urged caution against reading too much into the numbers.

"Those approval ratings are highly likely to fall back to second or third place within six months," Oh said, attributing the bump to increased media exposure. "It means my name has been in the news a lot recently — nothing more than that," Oh said.

Oh also pushed back against the opposition's attacks on the Han River ferry service during the recent parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, saying the criticism had been repetitive and misplaced.

Oh described the Han River ferry as a new mode of transport combining public transit and tourism functions. "It is a new type of transportation that blends public transit and tourism — why do they keep attacking it as if it were purely public transit?" Oh said.

Oh said ridership had more than doubled compared with the previous year and that revenue from pier food and beverage operations and advertising was growing. "A surplus is expected around the end of next year," Oh said.

On allegations of kickbacks, Oh said there was "not a shred of evidence that any kickback was paid," explaining that what had been paid out during the shipyard selection process was a referral fee — "like a brokerage commission paid to a real estate agency."

Throughout the broadcast, Oh emphasized the independence of the judiciary and democratic principles while presenting a broad conservative electoral victory as the central political task ahead.