'Early Voting D-1' Jung Wono and Oh Sehun Finally Face Off... First Seoul Mayoral TV Debate

Seoul Mayoral Debate to Be Held at 11 p.m. on May 28

On May 28, the day before the early voting for the 9th nationwide local elections, the ruling and opposition party candidates running for Seoul mayor will participate in their first and only joint debate.

From the left in the photo, Jung Wono, Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, and Oh Sehoon, People Power Party candidate, are speaking at the Kwanhoon Debate held on the 20th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the National Election Commission, four candidates—Jung Wono of the Democratic Party of Korea, Oh Sehoon of the People Power Party, Kim Jungchul of the Reform New Party, and Kwon Youngguk of the Justice Party—will attend the Seoul mayoral candidate debate to be held at 11 p.m. today at SBS Prism Tower in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

This will be the first time that Jung, considered a leading candidate in this election, and Oh will appear together in a live debate. Previously, both candidates participated in debates hosted by the Kwanhoon Club and the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club, but at separate times.

In this TV debate, the two candidates are expected to directly clash over key issues that have been the main points of contention throughout the campaign. The main topics are expected to be real estate and livelihood issues. Oh's side is likely to emphasize that if the continuity of the city administration is disrupted, current redevelopment, reconstruction, and various urban renewal projects could face setbacks. Additionally, they are expected to repeatedly raise concerns that the government’s loan regulations and tax policies have contributed to market instability, thereby intensifying their criticism.

Jung is expected to target Oh's city administration by focusing on the recent series of safety accidents. Following the overpass collapse in Seosomun, Seodaemun-gu on May 26, and another accident at a construction site near Suseo Station in Gangnam-gu the previous day, Jung’s camp is expected to once again highlight problems in the safety management system under Oh Sehoon's administration. As Jung has previously pressured Oh over incidents such as the omission of steel reinforcement in the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Express Railway (GTX)-A project, he is expected to continue this line of attack during the debate.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.