Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, has unveiled a "healthy city" initiative as his top campaign pledge for the June 3 local elections. His plan is to turn the entire city into a "gym-accessible zone," ensuring every resident can reach sports facilities within a 10-minute walk from home.
Oh announced his first pledge, "Steel Stamina, Vibrant Seoul," at a public health center in Seoul's Dobong-gu on Tuesday. Explaining why he chose health as his top priority, he said, "I constantly ask myself what citizens value most in their daily lives," adding, "It is not money, not housing, and not jobs, but health."
Oh defined health as a form of public infrastructure that cities must design. "We have long regarded health solely as a personal matter, but it is a form of public infrastructure that the city must help design," he said.
Oh plans to upgrade the Seoul health management platform "Wrist Doctor 9988," launched in 2021, into an artificial intelligence (AI)-based health management super app. The platform, a signature health policy of Oh's, has been used by nearly 2.8 million citizens to date.
He also plans to significantly expand sports and fitness infrastructure. Oh said he would create a "10-minute gym-accessible city" where residents anywhere in Seoul can manage their fitness within a 10-minute walk from home.
To this end, the number of neighborhood-based "Seoul Fitness Test Centers," currently at 27, will be increased to 100. These centers allow citizens to measure their physical fitness and receive exercise prescriptions. Leisure and exercise spaces for senior citizens will also be expanded. Under the plan, 120 new "Neighborhood Vitality Charging Stations," leisure spaces for the elderly, will be built by 2030, and indoor and outdoor park golf courses and senior exercise playgrounds will also be expanded.
