[9th popularly elected Seoul] City Council National Power Representative Kim Gil-young "We will fight against the Democratic Party's hold on Oh Se-hoon"

“If the Democratic Party is holding back just because Mayor Oh Se-hoon is doing it, we will verify through open discussion whether it is a policy that is truly helpful to the lives of citizens.”

In an interview with Yonhap News on the 4th, Kim Gil-young, representative of the People Power Party of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, revealed the strategy the People Power Party will take in the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council, in which the Democratic Party of Korea holds two-thirds of the seats.

He entered the 11th Seoul City Council in 2022 after serving as a member of the Gangnam District Council, an aide to a member of the National Assembly, and a spokesperson for the People Power Party Seoul Party. He served as the chairman of the Urban Planning and Balance Committee in the second half of the 11th Seoul City Council. He was re-elected in June and was elected as a representative of the People Power Party in the 12th city council.

The People Power Party, led by Representative Kim, currently holds only 38 seats out of 118. The Democratic Party won 80 seats.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon is a member of the People Power Party. Under this structure, the city council held its 340th regular session from the 2nd to December 23rd.

Following the administrative audit until the 16th and the city administration questions from the 17th to 19th, the 2027 Seoul City budget plan worth 55.7445 trillion won will be deliberated from the 20th.

Representative Kim Gil-young defined the basic role of the People Power Party, a minority party, as supporting Mayor Oh Se-hoon's administration direction and cooperating with the Democratic Party.

“In fact, the minority party should do more of the term ‘cooperation.’ The majority party can vote, but that is not the case for us. If it is truly reasonable, it is right to go with the other party’s proposal even if it is proposed.”

He said, “My political philosophy is to look at facts from the facts,” and “Go for what is right, and correct what is wrong.”

However, he emphasized that he will clearly stand against issues that the Democratic Party judges to be opposed to simply because they are Mayor Oh's projects.

Representative Kim said, "It's good to oppose, but then you have to come up with an alternative. We shouldn't just say it's wrong, but we have to discuss 'what to do then?'"

He went on to say, “(National Power Party) is a minority party, so it cannot win by voting,” and added, “I want to bring policies that are considered a stumbling block out into the open to discuss and prove whether they really help the lives of citizens or not.”

The same problem was expressed in the ongoing administrative audit.

He said, “The administrative audit must look at the entire city government of Seoul through the eyes of citizens, whether it is the environment, housing, or transportation,” and expressed concern, “If it only focuses on projects promoted by Mayor Oh, such as the Han River Bus, it could easily end up as ‘holding back Oh Se-hoon’s city administration.’”

Accordingly, he said he also ordered the People Power Party members to "give thanks that actually help the lives of citizens."

Regarding Mayor Oh's representative project, the Han River Bus, he evaluated it as the direction Seoul should take for the future.

Representative Lee said, "There are many transportation systems overseas that utilize rivers. I believe that the Han River Bus can be used as a means of transportation as well as a tourism function used by tourists on weekends. There are very few policies that start after setting everything up perfectly, so the process of implementing them and improving them to suit Seoul is important."

However, he said, “There is a problem that access to the apron is inconvenient,” and pointed out that the council should also look into ways to increase convenience, such as walking access or shuttle buses.

The 'Youth Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Rights', which was completely cut in the last supplementary budget and re-introduced in next year's budget, was also selected as a project that needs to be actively pursued. The city of Seoul re-allocated 26.6 billion won in next year's budget.

Representative Kim said, “We will strive to pass a budget to enable youth AI projects next year,” and added, “If the Democratic Party objects again, we will persuade them logically.”

However, he said, “The newer the policy, the more we need to consider publicness and safety. As the level and price of each AI company is different, we will also check whether they are properly competing and selected to achieve maximum effect with the same budget.”

Regarding next year's budget deliberation for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, he said, "It is not the Democratic Party's money, the People Power Party's money, or Mayor Oh's money. In the end, it is a question of how to distribute the taxes paid by citizens," and emphasized that "our party will also look at the budget in detail," and will play the role of the National Assembly.

They also showed a positive stance on the main strategies of the 9th popular election, including the 'G3 Seoul Plan', which aims to elevate Seoul to the world's third largest city, and 'vitalization of the night-time economy' to revitalize alley commercial districts.

Regarding the G3 Seoul Plan, he said, “If we break down the goals and look at the city competitiveness indicators, it becomes clear what we need to do,” and added, “From a planning perspective, I think we are on the right track.”

He said that the night-time economy is also a "policy that can lead to the revitalization of tourism, small business districts, and small businesses," but that side effects such as noise from residential areas and conflicts of interest with existing commercial districts must be adjusted.

Representative Kim said, “I support the mayor, but the city administration needs to be carefully looked at.”

At the same time, he emphasized, “The standard is the lives of citizens and the level of citizens’ perspectives,” and “If Mayor Oh’s policy direction is correct, the role of the People Power City council members is to give strength to the council and supplement any shortcomings to ensure better implementation.”