Oh Se-hoon and Yoo Seong-min Hold Dinner Meeting: "Conservative Unity and Reform Essential for Winning General Election"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min of the People Power Party met today (August 3) and reportedly shared a consensus that unity and reform within the conservative bloc are necessary to win the 2028 general election.

Mayor Oh invited former lawmaker Yoo to the Hannam-dong Seoul mayoral official residence this evening for a dinner meeting lasting about two hours without aides present, where they had candid conversations.

The meeting was initiated by Mayor Oh to express his gratitude to former lawmaker Yoo, who supported his campaign trail during the Seoul mayoral election, which was the fiercest battleground in the June 3 local elections.

During the meeting, former lawmaker Yoo reportedly proposed a theory of unity encompassing even those who opposed the impeachment of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk Yeol, and Mayor Oh is said to have agreed with this.

Both men had previously supported the impeachments of former Presidents Park Geun-hye and Yoon Suk Yeol.

In a Facebook post yesterday, former lawmaker Yoo mentioned, "To win the general election, the People Power Party must move forward on the path of unity and innovation," adding, "Fighting among ourselves over whether to support or oppose impeachment is precisely what the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party want most."

Along with this, the two men expressed concern over the People Power Party's approval ratings, which have been falling together without enjoying any rebound effect despite recent unfavorable news for the ruling party, and reportedly shared a consensus that "innovation" is essential to fight the general election in the greater Seoul area, the biggest battleground.

Former lawmaker Yoo shared, "I said, 'The party cannot go on like this. Right now, we are failing to get support from the entire conservative base and moderate support is at rock bottom, making it impossible to fight the general election, especially in the greater Seoul area,'" adding, "We agreed that party innovation is absolutely necessary to win the hearts of the moderate, metropolitan, and youth demographics, and decided to cooperate moving forward."

It was reported that there were no conversations during the meeting regarding the future of leader Jang Dong-hyuk or the reinstatement of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.

Former lawmaker Yoo reportedly offered words of comfort regarding Mayor Oh's recent guilty verdict in the first trial on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, and told him to play a role in "rebuilding conservatism" by being acquitted in the appeal trial.

Lee Min-kyung, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in a written briefing, "Today's dinner meeting was a setting to look back on our victory in the local elections together and have a candid exchange of views on the direction the party and conservative politics should take," adding, "We deeply agreed that the meaning behind the citizens protecting Seoul in the past local elections is by no means light."

She continued, "We shared the same view to fulfill necessary roles from our respective positions so that the People Power Party can stand tall once again as an alternative party that meets the public's expectations."

She also added, "We expressed deep concern over the reality that the party has failed to sufficiently maintain the momentum for reform since the local elections, with party approval ratings recently declining again," and explained, "We agreed that public trust can only be restored when we are reborn as a competent party that properly checks the incompetence and runaway governance of the Lee Jae-myung administration and presents practical alternatives to the people."

In addition, she noted, "The two figures decided to continue communicating and cooperating so that conservative politics can regain public trust and retake power based on the love and support of the people."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.