Home > National > Politics

Former head of Seongdong District declares bid for Seoul mayor

Published: 09 Mar. 2026, 17:06

Chong Won-o, former chief of Seoul's eastern Seongdong District, waves to the crowd at his retirement ceremony at the Seongdong District Office on March 4. [YONHAP]

A former chief of the Seongdong District in Seoul, Chong Won-o, on Monday declared his official bid for the mayor of the nation's capital city in the upcoming June 3 local elections.

Chong of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) stepped down last week to join the mayoral race after serving 12 years as the district's chief.

"Seoul needs a mayor who works well with the Lee Jae Myung administration, and a good president needs a good mayor by his side," Chong said in a video released on his YouTube channel.

Chong drew attention late last year when Lee shared on social media platform X a news report on a survey that showed 93 percent were satisfied with Chong's performance.

Lee praised Chong in the post, saying he "must be doing a great job," in a move widely seen as a show of support from the president.

Chong will be competing with four other contenders in the DP's primary for Seoul mayor: three-term lawmakers Park Ju-min and Jeon Hyeon-hui, two-term lawmaker Kim Young-bae, and Kim Hyoung-nam, former secretary general of the Center for Military Human Rights Korea.

In the video, Chong also stressed that he has proven his "administrative ability and on-the-ground experience," calling himself "the winning card" capable of ending Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's tenure.

Oh, who has served four terms as Seoul mayor since he first took office in 2006, did not apply for the main opposition People Power Party's candidacy for the June local elections by the March 8 deadline, according to his aides.

Oh has been calling for the party's leadership to shift the party line to distance itself from former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is now in jail and standing trial over insurrection charges in connection with his failed martial law bid in December 2024.

Yonhap