Oh Se-hun Weighs in on Han Dong-hoon's Return to Party: "Necessary for Winning the General Election"
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hun said in a Facebook post on the 11th that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon's return to the People Power Party is essential for victory in the general election. "This is not a matter of personal likes or dislikes toward a particular individual, but the minimum principle for the party's unity and victory," the mayor said, adding that "Han himself also has a role he must resolve first to make this happen." Oh added a condition, however, saying the issue of Han's return must not become a source of internal conflict and that a consensus that party members can readily accept must be formed first.
Oh repeatedly called for a renewal of the People Power Party's future direction. "The party must change in order to fully restore the public's trust and secure firm support from centrists, the capital region, and young people," he stressed. He went on: "Although there have been results showing a recent rise in the party's approval rating, this largely reflects a temporary bounce in public opinion stemming from the policy failures of the Lee Jae-myung government and the Democratic Party, rather than anything else."
Oh urged that there should be no limits placed on the scope of change. "To win over public sentiment in the capital region, there must be no taboos or limits on how we change," he argued. "If we can prove to the people that the party is renewing itself, every option must remain open." He emphasized that accurately reading the direction of public opinion and steadily uniting the party's will and strength is important, noting that a transition to an emergency committee system ahead of the party convention is one such step.
"What matters now is not who joins hands with whom, or who seizes control of the party," Oh said. "What matters is how the People Power Party can change and unite to regain the people's trust and win the 2028 general election. That, and only that, is the point where we must unite our will."
