Seoul mayor accuses liberals of leading nation in wrong direction

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a press conference at Seoul City Hall, Monday. Yonhap

Mayor Oh Se-hoon blames former Moon government for surging energy bills, blasts disability group that staged subway protests for disrupting law and order

By Ko Dong-hwan

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been on the offensive over several issues that are dividing the nation. Regarding the rising energy bills that put an extra financial burden on citizens, Oh pointed his finger at the previous Moon Jae-in government as a source of the problem and declared the Moon government's reckless policy to phase out nuclear power plants responsible for the disaster.

In a sarcastic comment, Mayor Oh said the controversial left-wing radio host who left TBS last year sweated a lot to side with the liberal opposition party and serve its interests.

He made the divisive remarks during a press conference at City Hall on Monday as an extensive range of commodities ― from utility bills to public transit fares and snacks ― are poised for price hikes this year.

The earliest and most widespread sign of the price hikes came with energy bills. Members of the public across the country have reported they were shocked to find their monthly bills from last month nearly doubled. Many local reports said people have been hit with "heating bill bombs out of the blue."

One of the reasons for the price hike was the particularly cold weather this winter compared to previous years, which drove up demand for heating. But according to the mayor, another reason is the country's flawed energy policies, particularly for nuclear power.

"There are structural problems surrounding the rising heating bills, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine (which affects Russia's gas exports)," the mayor said. "But before that, anti-nuclear policies from the previous Moon Jae-in administration capsized the country's nuclear power production industry from profiting with a comfortable net gain to recording a great net loss. It killed the buffer zone between energy policies and how they affect people's bills, resulting in consumers directly suffering from the turbulence in the country's power generation and distribution via their utilities bills."

Commuters crowd the subway platform inside Gwanghwamun Station, Nov. 24, 2022. Subway fares throughout the country are expected to rise this year alongside other market costs. Newsis

The country's energy policies took a sharp turn when the administration transitioned from Moon to Yoon Suk Yeol last May, as the new leadership proclaimed it would revive the country's nuclear industry that was bridled by the previous administration. Despite protests from environmental activists and local residents near nuclear reactors against Yoon's pro-nuclear policies, the president has been lauding the energy's comparative affordability and the country's reactor construction technologies that have enabled lucrative reactor construction projects.

"Even setting aside the previous administration's misjudgment, the present administration should recalibrate the country's current situation and come up with a new energy policy draft," the mayor said. "The city government will then discuss with the central government about introducing new medium- to long-term energy policies."

As to the city's plan to raise public bus and subway fares by up to 400 won ($0.33), the mayor again pointed to the central authority during Monday's press conference. He said the Ministry of Economy and Finance had declined to budget enough for Seoul City to maintain its welfare service allowing residents aged 65 or older to ride the city's subway system free of charge. The mayor criticized the ministry, Monday, saying its decision ignored the "valuable agreement reached" between the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to preserve the service dubbed the city's "public service obligation."

The free subway service for elderly people, however, has been blamed for keeping Seoul Metro, the city's subway operator, underperforming for years and running at a net loss. Last year, the city-run company recorded a net loss of over 1 trillion won ($814 million).

Under the hike, the city's bus rate will increase from 1,200 won to 1,600 won and the subway rate from 1,250 to 1,650 won.

"First, let me tell you that even by raising the fares by 400 won, it's still far from offsetting the operators' fuel costs," the mayor said.

Kim Ou-joon speaks during his YouTube show on Jan. 17 that is a spinoff from TBS' "News Factory." He launched the show after being dropped from TBS last year. Screenshot from YouTube

But he said his government still needs the central government's further financial assistance to keep the fares low.

"The country's railroad industry is enjoying the central government's financial support, whereas the city's metro system isn't, which is unfair," the mayor said. "I recall that this welfare service was first brought up by the incumbent president. It thus makes it reasonable to say that the city's net loss over operating the free subway service should be covered at least partially by the central government. If the finance ministry changes its plan by the end of this year, I think the rising market costs could be controlled."

What of Kim Ou-joon?

During Monday's press conference, Oh made it clear that TBS, a Seoul-funded TV and radio broadcaster that has recently terminated the country's most popular radio news show "News Factory," hosted by Kim Ou-joon, is better off without the controversial host, a leftist news critic. Following last year's decision by the PPP-dominated Seoul Metropolitan Council to stop funding the broadcaster next year due to Kim's consistently critical views of the ruling party and incumbent administration, TBS sacked Kim.

Oh had publicly said that TBS could decide its own "fate" depending on how it deals with the controversial show and its host.

"Nice hustle to Kim," Oh said in a derisive tone. He added he hasn't publicly mentioned Kim and his consistent criticisms in recent years. "But now that he is no longer with TBS, let me just say that he was using the network run by citizens' tax money like his own toy and promoted a certain party (DPK) and their political campaign."

The city government plans to select a new president for TBS in February among three shortlisted candidates. The mayor declined to reveal who was selected during the press conference.