Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate, on April 29 unveiled his first campaign pledge, titled “Steel Strength, Energetic Seoul,” aimed at reducing health gaps tied to income and where people live by making it easier to manage health anytime, anywhere.
Speaking at the Dobong District Public Health Center in Ssangmun-dong, Seoul, Oh said, “A warmer and healthier quality of life in the special city of Seoul will be the most important policy in the next term.”
As part of the plan, he said Seoul will upgrade its “Sonmok Doctor 9988” health management platform into an artificial intelligence-based health app. The core idea is to use exercise data tracked through the platform and health screening results held by the National Health Insurance Service to predict risks of chronic and serious diseases.
Oh also pledged a major expansion of community sports infrastructure, saying he would create a “10-minute exercise zone city,” where residents can reach a place to work out within 10 minutes of home.
Under the proposal, the number of “Seoul Fitness Centers,” where people can take fitness tests in their neighborhoods, would increase to 100 from 27. “Fun Stations,” running and fitness-focused facilities currently operating at subway stations including Yeouinaru, Ttukseom and Gwanghwamun, would expand to 25 from six.
Oh said the city would also significantly increase exercise spaces for older adults. He pledged to create 120 new “Neighborhood Vitality Recharge Stations” by 2030, senior-focused leisure and health facilities using public buildings such as welfare centers and libraries. He also said Seoul would establish at least one “Senior Playground” in each district, describing the facilities as helpful for dementia prevention.
“If health gaps arise because of income and assets, it can create a gap in overall happiness,” Oh said. “The gap between rich and poor, or income gaps, must not lead to health gaps.”
He added that “for citizens, as policy consumers, the most important thing is health,” and said he would take Seoul’s health city project — built through policy investment over the past five years — “to the next level” and complete the changes already underway.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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