|
At 3 p.m. on the 17th at Seoul City Hall, Mayor Oh told reporters he was registering as a mayoral candidate out of a sense of responsibility to Seoul residents and a spirit of putting the nation ahead of factional interests. He said he feels an overwhelming sense of duty given the support he has received from the public and the conservative camp. Having delayed his nomination twice to press for shifts in party policy and personnel, speculation grew that he might withdraw, but he ultimately chose to enter the primary. For the party, this averts the worst-case scenario of failing even to field a candidate.
Separately from his decision to run, Oh renewed his criticism of the leadership and repeatedly called for the creation of an \"innovation campaign committee\" with powers comparable to an emergency response committee. He said any resolution must be backed by concrete action and criticized Jang and the leadership for failing to demonstrate the kind of change the public would accept. He also accused them of steering the party in the wrong direction while failing to sever ties with far-right YouTubers such as Jeon Han-gil and Go Seong-guk. Oh vowed to use his candidacy to push party reform starting in Seoul and to press for an innovation campaign committee on par with an emergency committee, making clear his nomination filing would serve as a catalyst for continued internal reform.
The party leadership has stressed both change and damage control. Jang acknowledged that efforts to reform the party are underway but conceded they have not moved with sufficient speed or substance, and he pledged to pursue further change and innovation to improve the party's chances in the election.
While the leadership agreed on the need for an innovation campaign committee, it drew a line at stepping back into a secondary role. Chief spokesperson Choi Bo-yun said the committee has already been discussed and that the party shares the goal of running a winning campaign. He noted that Mayor Oh framed the innovation committee as a vehicle to win elections rather than as a demand for the leadership to stand down, and he described the remaining differences as limited. Party officials expect the campaign committee to launch at the end of April, after the candidate vetting process is complete.
Oh's decision to run has, for now, defused the immediate crisis, but observers describe the outcome as more of a conditional truce than a full resolution. A senior party lawmaker said whether Oh's declaration leads to a unified, election-winning team or exposes new fractures will depend on how the leadership responds in the coming weeks.
