Kim Chong-in: "Oh Se-hoon will not run for Seoul mayor... He will seek the party leadership instead"

[The Financial News] Kim Chong-in, former Emergency Measures Committee Chairman of the People Power Party (PPP), predicted that Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Oh Se-hoon is unlikely to run in the upcoming Seoul mayoral election and may instead seek the party leadership.
Appearing on MBC Radio’s "Kwon Soon-pyo’s News High Kick" on the 16th, Kim said, "Given Mayor Oh’s political disposition, I don’t think he will enter the primary," adding, "He may be thinking of not running for Seoul mayor and instead challenging for the party leadership."
He went on, "Back in 2011, when he held the 2011 Seoul Free Lunch Referendum and it was rejected, didn’t he step down as mayor? I think a similar outcome will happen this time as well."
Kim also revealed, "Mayor Oh came to see me on the 8th, the deadline for candidate registration," and continued, "When I asked why he hadn’t applied for the nomination, he said, 'In the current situation, there is little point in becoming the mayoral candidate. I presented my demands to PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok, but they were not accepted, so I gave up registering.'"
He added, "For the People Power Party (PPP) to fight the Seoul mayoral election without Mayor Oh is a very regrettable situation," and said, "Not only for Seoul mayor, but there is also no suitable candidate for Governor of Gyeonggi Province. The party is effectively giving up on a region where more than 52% of the Korean population lives, and that raises the question of whether it can even survive as a political party."
Regarding the claim that Oh plans not to run because he expects the party to lose the election, Kim assessed, "He does not think the general election itself will be easy," and explained, "As the party continues to behave the way it does and the situation becomes even more difficult, he has little desire to take part."
On Oh’s demand that the party leadership form an "Innovation Election Countermeasures Committee" as a condition for entering the Seoul mayoral primary, Kim said, "If his demands were accepted, all he was really asking was for people to come and help him."
When asked by the host, "If you are asked to serve as head of the election countermeasures committee, would you accept?" Kim replied, "I have absolutely no interest in such a request. It is a completely meaningless position," stressing, "The head of the election countermeasures committee can do nothing other than travel around and campaign."
He continued, "I have already helped the People Power Party twice, and the people I helped all ended up ruined afterward," and predicted, "If the party does not carry out a sweeping overhaul after this election, the 2028 general election will be bleak once again."
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter