Ex-mayor Oh wins bipartisan primary, beating Ahn Cheol-soo
Ex-Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has been elected as a single candidate for the opposition parties in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election.
In an opinion poll released on March 23, Oh Se-hoon beat Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the conservative minor People's Party (PP), to become the single opposition candidate for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election.
According to the regulations of the Public Official Election Act, the two sides decided not to disclose the results of the poll.
The poll was conducted through two institutions (Korea Research and Global Research) selected by the two parties earlier by lottery, with a 100% wireless phone interview from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on March 22.
Immediately after being elected as a single candidate, Oh said in a press conference, "I'm not good enough, I don't know what to do because you really support me more than I expected. I feel that much responsibility. I will do my best until the end of the election to meet supporters’ expectations.”
Candidate Oh said, "I also want to comfort and thank Ahn. We faced each other in the battle of unification, but asking Ahn to hold my hand in the war of the judgment of the administration."
Oh said he would meet Ahn as soon as possible after discussions between working-level officials from both sides.
The Oh’s victory, which came just two weeks ahead of the by-election, sets up Oh as the most powerful candidate for the mayoral election, seen widely as a major bellwether for the 2022 presidential election, according to the latest opinion polls.
Recent opinion polls showed both Oh and Ahn lead Park Young-sun, the candidate from the ruling Democratic Party (DP), by a wide margin in a two-way race that pits Park against either of the two.
Oh Se-hoon, who was born on February 18, 1961, is a politician who served as the mayor of Seoul between 2006 and August 26, 2011. On June 3, 2010, Oh was reelected as the mayor of Seoul but resigned after losing a referendum on the Seoul Free Lunch Referendum.
Oh resigned two years before his term and had stayed in London as a fellow at the Graduate School of Social Science and Public Policy at King's College London, focusing on major cities around the world seeking ways to create jobs and help promote economic growth.
Oh graduated from Daeil High School and went on to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He graduated from Korea University's School of Law and became a lawyer. In 2000, Oh was elected as a member of the 16th National Assembly. He is Catholic and his baptism name is Stefano.