Seoul mayor race heats up ahead of local elections

May 31 (Asia Today) -- The race for Seoul mayor is entering its final stretch as South Korea's ruling and opposition parties frame the contest as a key test of strength before Wednesday's nationwide local elections.

The Democratic Party is calling for voters to pass judgment on what it describes as 10 years of failed city government under People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon. The People Power Party is countering by portraying Democratic Party candidate Jung Won-oh as too closely tied to President Lee Jae-myung to defend Seoul's interests independently.

The June 3 local elections will choose 16 mayoral and gubernatorial posts, 227 local government heads and about 4,000 local council members nationwide, with Seoul among the most closely watched battlegrounds.

Jung's campaign said Sunday it would focus its final strategy on ending what it called "Oh Se-hoon's Seoul City government insensitive to safety." Lee In-young, standing chair of Jung's campaign committee, said the campaign would press two messages: choosing Jung to support the Lee administration and ending what it called Oh's weak record on public safety.

Lee cited the Itaewon crowd crush, defects involving steel reinforcement on the Greater Train eXpress project, the Seosomun accident and problems surrounding the Han River bus project as examples of what the campaign described as failures in Oh's city administration.

"There were unusually many safety accidents during Oh Se-hoon's 10 years, and criticism that his words were flashy but his actions were weak runs through the judgment against Oh," Lee said.

Jung has also attacked Oh over construction defects linked to the GTX project, saying the mayor's response showed a lack of responsibility for public safety.

Oh, meanwhile, launched what his campaign called an "88-hour unlimited responsibility campaign" on Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing until the eve of election day as he travels across Seoul. His campaign said the schedule was intended to show his determination to remain responsible for citizens' lives until the end.

Oh also sharpened his criticism of Jung, saying the Democratic Party candidate was selected by the president and would act like a "quasi-appointed figurehead."

"What Seoul needs now is not a figurehead but a guardian of citizens' rights and interests," Oh said.

Oh said that, if elected, he would attend Cabinet meetings and present what he called "five orders from Seoul citizens" directly to the president. The pledges include three urgent real estate policy proposals and two recommendations related to the people's livelihood and democratic governance.

Recent campaigning has underscored the race's importance to both parties. Rival parties have focused heavily on battleground regions including Seoul in the final weekend before the vote.

The Seoul contest is also being viewed in the broader context of President Lee's first year in office. South Korea's local elections and parliamentary by-elections are widely seen as a referendum on Lee's administration after a turbulent political period.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260531010009150

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 8:08 PM.