Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon won the ruling Grand National Party's (GNP) nomination to run for reelection in the June 2 local elections, Friday.
In the party's primary at a gymnasium in southern Seoul, Oh won by a large margin, with 68.4 percent, or 3,216 of the eligible votes cast. Rep. Na Kyung-won, who had sought to become Seoul's first female mayor, garnered 1,170 votes, while Rep. Kim Choong-whan won 316 votes.
In an acceptance speech, Oh pledged to rewrite history by winning the upcoming election.
His pledge came against the backdrop that no ruling party has ever won local elections that were held in the years after a new president was sworn in.
"Over the past four years since I took office, I have been literally obsessed with ways to reshape Seoul. And my endeavors have paid off as the city is now called by several international institutions as one of the top 10 globally competitive cities," he said.
"Now I dare to dream of transforming the capital city into one of the top five cities in the world, alongside New York and London, over the next four years if elected."
"Amid the global economic slowdown, Seoul saw an approximate 30-percent increase in foreign tourists during my tenure," he stressed.
The mayor also said he wept over a thank-you note that he received from the male breadwinner of a working-class family who said his family was now able to have their own place after 20 years of hard work.
"He was grateful to me for the affordable housing policy," the mayor said.
He made the remark after he was criticized by his competitors that he overspent taxpayers' money under the slogan of polishing the image of the capital.
Na said lower-income families were left behind under Oh's leadership and that families had to shoulder increased debt.
The winner was determined based on the combined result of the votes cast by party delegates and citizens, and a public opinion survey of 2,000 citizens.
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