By Cho Jae-hyon
City Editor
Mayor Oh Se-hoon started his second four-year term on July 1. It's one month after he won the mayoral election in what is seen as one of the most dramatic upsets in the history of domestic polls.
Oh from the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) became the first Seoul mayor to be elected for a second consecutive term, beating his rival Han Myeong-sook of the opposition Democratic Party (DP) by a razor-thin margin.
He has said the victory by a 0.6 percentage point margin amounts to "a virtual defeat." It came as a shock to the 49-year-old handsome lawyer-turned-mayor who had expected an easy win.
Oh, who has the image of a son from an affluent family who wouldn't know the hardship of ordinary citizens, apparently turned humble and modest right after the elections.
It was a wake-up call for him ― citizens didn't support him as much as he believed they would.
At the end of last month, he had lunch with city desk editors of newspapers and broadcasting companies. It was just a couple of days before his swearing-in as the first second-term mayor.
At that meeting with about 30 journalists, Oh said the result of the local elections gave him some opportunities to take a look at himself and ponder the policies he had pushed over the past four years.
He sounded repentant at some point. He said he realized that he has not listened to citizens hard enough and the city had pushed projects without sufficient heed to citizens' opinions.
"A lot of thoughts came across my mind over the last month. I realized that I only grasped the public sentiment superficially. I didn't know the undercurrent," Oh said.
He admitted that he was anxious to do things in a hurry to finish them during the four year term, omitting the due process to gather opinions from outside.
It seems he has learned some lessons from the election. He promised to listen more and talk less going forward.
He actually did not talk much at the gathering. His aides instead "forced" all participating editors to take turns to speak, asking them to make their opinions or suggestions. And Oh vigorously took notes on what we suggested.
Indeed he will have to be all ears as his second term is strewn with a lot of mines. It will be anything but smooth sailing as the Seoul Municipal Council and ward offices came under control of those from the opposition DP.
This time around DP members won 79 council seats out of 106, and won 21 ward offices out of 25 in the capital. Four years ago when he embarked on his first term, GNP members took 102 council seats and claimed all 25 ward office chief posts.
Rough seas await him. He is now surrounded by a bunch of political foes, while citizens are not as supportive as they were before. Worse, he won't be able to avoid clashes with liberal Seoul education superintendent Kwak No-hyun over key education polices.
All in all, Oh faces tremendous challenges ahead. The result of the local elections reflects that many citizens are skeptical about the way the city is governed. They are obviously uncomfortable with his key projects such as "design Seoul" and "Han River Renaissance."
If his top agendas remain focused on polishing the capital's appearance, they won't regain support from the public.
In his inauguration speech, Oh said he will deliver on his pledge to lift Seoul to the ranks of the top five cities in the world. He said he will attract more tourists and create more jobs.
However, cosmetic public works are simply insufficient ― one case in point is the Gwanghwamun Plaza. The problem with Oh's design and other redevelopment projects is the lack of care for the preservation of Seoul's unique and traditional beauty. His new town project is basically to bulldoze old urban flats to make way for posh apartments and commercial buildings.
Many old back alleys where ordinary citizens lived and made their living are disappearing one after another. The old back alley Pimatgol beside Gwanghwamun has been demolished, and some old residential districts in Itaewon where many foreigners nestled are also being torn down under redevelopment plans.
These kinds of districts, old but awash with tradition and culture, deserve more attention. They are also elements that determine the identity of Seoul. Without them, Seoul will not be much different from other modern but gray cities.
As mayor, he needs to stand up against his party occasionally, if that's what citizens want. As he promised, Oh should also try to communicate more with ordinary people.
His leadership is being put to the test. Whether he will be able to turn the current hardships into an opportunity to leap forward in his future political career is entirely up to how he proceeds.
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