Oh vows to lead Seoul into world’s top 5 cities

A dream pursued aggressively, such as making Seoul one of the top five cities in the world, is a positive driving, said recently reelected Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.

“Very few believed in me when I pledged four years ago to bring Seoul within the top 20 ranking, but our city nevertheless made it beyond expectations and even made it near to the top 10,” Oh said last week. “Now that we have laid down the city’s foundation as an advanced metropolitan capital and a sophisticated design city, the dream of attaining the top five ranking may not be that far off.”

The steps taken by Seoul City in recent years have won the heart of foreigners and will eventually influence the city’s reputation internationally, said Oh, who began his second four-year mayoral term on July 1.

“My strength as a reelected mayor is that I may effectively carry on with the policies of the previous administration and develop them even further,” he said.

“I pledged four years ago to realize a dream and acted upon it, so now I shall in my second term, only with a higher goal.”

Another challenging task which the mayor has to face is the G20 summit to take place here in November.

“There is no doubt that we need to deliver to the foreign visitors, especially the global opinion leaders, an impressive image of our city,” Oh said.

“However, unlike in the past, Seoul is fully ready to respond to this kind of international event and no longer needs to make a fuss about it.”

All the city and its citizens are to do is maintain and clean up existing facilities, and then add a touch of heartwarming hospitality, the mayor said.

What counts even more than the summit itself is how Seoul will upgrade itself into a truly global city afterwards, he said.

“In order to be recognized by its foreign visitors and residents, a city is to offer three major factors -- education, medical care and residence,” he said.

“The core in all of them is that the city’s guests should feel as respected as its domestic citizens.”

In his previous term, Oh suggested as the city’s theme “a clean and attractive city.”

For his second term, the motto was altered to “a city which feels like an old friend,” focusing on making newcomers feel at home.

“Under the former motto, we have greatly upgraded our capital into a clean and attractive city, which we may take pride in,” Oh said.

“Now that we have laid down the foundation, it is now time to take further steps and embrace the global society.”