After Election, Seoul Braces for Environmental Inaction

An estimated 17,000 people die every year in South Korea from air-pollution-related illnesses. But this top-priority issue was conspicuously absent from the campaign manifesto of the newly elected mayor of Seoul.The death of former mayor Park Won-soon in 2020 triggered the April 7 by-election to fill the remainder of his term. Park's suicide and the related sexual harassment allegations against him sparked a national debate on his legacy. But on environmental issues Park bucked the trend of growth at any cost that obsessed his predecessors.One such predecessor is the recently victorious conservative party candidate Oh Se-hoon, who served as Seoul's mayor from 2006 to 2011. Oh ran on a platform devoid of environmental policies and in support of increased car usage. Vehicles remain the single largest source of particulate matter air pollution in the country's capital.Under Park Won-soon, Seoul controlled parking space as a tool to reduce car usage and tackle air pollution. By contrast, Oh plans to double parking space in the city, which will exacerbate air pollution and burden future administrations with unnecessary infrastructure financed by misspent public funds.