▲ This file photo, taken Nov. 12, 2025, shows Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (2nd from R) speaking at a meeting at the headquarters of the main opposition People Power Party in Seoul. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Seoul mayor-local elections

(LEAD) Seoul mayor not apply for PPP's candidacy for June local elections

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout)

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Sunday did not apply for the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s candidacy for the June local elections by the deadline, according to his aides.

Oh did not register as a PPP candidate for the Seoul mayorship in the June 3 local elections by the deadline set for 6 p.m. Sunday, as he thinks the party should prioritize severing ties with former ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of the polls, according to his aides.

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

The move came as a sharp fall in public support for the PPP raises the likelihood that the conservative party will likely lose the upcoming local elections. Since the crushing defeat in last year's presidential election, the PPP has been embroiled in an internal feud over Yoon's short-lived martial law imposition.

"What is the point of registering candidacy and holding a primary as long as the prioritized task of normalizing the party line remains unresolved?" Oh wrote on his Facebook page Saturday.

"We need to draw a conclusion on what paths we need to walk to regain public trust and win the elections," he said.

The PPP will hold an emergency general meeting of its lawmakers Monday, with attention paid to whether they will discuss Oh and reform-minded lawmakers' call for shifting the party line.

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