Oh says the government dresses up its farmland probe and other measures as reform, then brands anyone who points out the side effects as 'vested interests resisting change'
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon kept up a busy schedule even during the Chuseok holiday, speaking out on political issues and making public appearances.
On Saturday, Oh visited Aeranwon, a single-parent family welfare facility in Seodaemun-gu, to offer holiday greetings and hear from residents about the difficulties of raising children and the support they need.
Then, around 7:27 a.m. Sunday — the last day of the Chuseok holiday — Oh posted a message on his Facebook page titled "Mr. President, stop looking for enemies among the people."
Oh said that during the holiday he met many citizens who vented their frustration, asking, "Why am I being treated like a speculator?"
He criticized President Lee Jae Myung, saying the president's fixation on owner-occupancy had already caused a sharp drop in the supply of jeonse and monthly-rent units in Seoul, driving up prices — and that the same mindset was now extending to farmland, with a new fixation on whether owners actually till their own fields.
The remarks appeared to target the government's announcement that it would conduct a comprehensive survey of farmland nationwide to identify and severely punish those holding agricultural land for speculative purposes without actually farming it.
Oh said that while speculation and illegal activity must be stopped, the problem lies in the policy direction — one that measures the complex lives of citizens against a single standard and treats anyone who falls outside that standard as a potential speculator.
He added that the government started with the principle that "not farming your own land equals speculation," only to walk it back as concerns grew that it did not reflect rural realities, promising instead to make exceptions for unavoidable circumstances such as old age, illness and inheritance.
Oh said every citizen has circumstances beyond their control. He called it arrogant and self-righteous to assume the government can perfectly distinguish "speculators" from "good-faith owners" by scrutinizing each person's individual situation.
He asked why this government insists on labeling people "speculators" and "vested interests" in the name of reform, and on making a loud show of rooting them out and crushing them.
Oh said he believes the reason lies in the Lee Jae Myung government's lack of a governing vision.
He advised that a president should be opening up a future for the people — answering what South Korea will live on going forward, how it will build competitiveness amid the sweeping transformation driven by AI and advanced industries, and what kind of future it will offer young people.
Instead, he said, this government came to power on the back of the martial law crisis without having prepared any such vision, and so its entire governing agenda has become identifying enemies to topple and purge.
It then dresses that up as reform, he said, and brands anyone who points out the side effects as "vested interests resisting change."
Oh advised that the real enemies to fight are a rapidly shifting security environment, a reshaping of the global economic order, low growth, a low birth rate, a crisis in industrial competitiveness, and the vanishing opportunities facing young people.
Oh closed his post by writing: "Public expectations of the Lee Jae Myung government are growing cold. I hope the president receives this public sentiment in full."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
