Oh Se-hoon: "President Lee's Repeated Delusional Victories Only Prolong Real Estate Hell"

▲ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon leveled sharp criticism at President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday (October 6), saying, "Ignoring even the existing facts and repeatedly claiming delusional victories will not change policy outcomes. It will only prolong the real estate hell the public is enduring."

Mayor Oh launched the attack in a Facebook post earlier today, writing, "Looking at the several real estate-related posts the president shared on social media yesterday, I even came to think that trying to persuade him any further would be meaningless."

He stated, "Blaming speculative forces when housing prices rise, pointing to resistance from vested interests when side effects of policies are highlighted, and viewing the public's cries of pain as pushback that must be endured in the process of reform—with such narrow-minded perceptions from the president, there appears to be no hope going forward."

Mayor Oh questioned, "Moreover, I had to chuckle when he claimed that the year-on-year increase in permits and groundbreaking in Seoul and the metropolitan area was thanks to the administration's 'speed battle.' What kind of speed battle did the government even wage? It takes an average of over 10 years from the establishment of an association to groundbreaking, so does the president possess a magic lamp that creates permits and construction starts in just one year?"

He continued, "The fact that results in permits and construction starts have begun to emerge sequentially starting this year is the result of the Seoul Metropolitan Government working day and night to restore urban renewal projects that were completely uprooted and even doused with herbicide during Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure," emphasizing, "Although 389 redevelopment projects totaling 430,000 housing units were canceled under Mayor Park, we designated 214 new sites and improved project feasibility, dedicating all our efforts to creating conditions so permits and groundbreaking could take place swiftly."

He added, "It is almost pitiful to see the president offering self-serving interpretations while willfully turning a blind eye to this process of normalizing supply."

Mayor Oh also criticized, "The president unreservedly exposed unfounded dichotomous thinking, claiming that 'conservative governments encouraged speculation, while progressive governments suppressed it.' What more can we expect from a president who cannot step even an inch away from viewing real estate through ideology rather than market principles?"

He pointed out, "According to his words, housing prices should have skyrocketed under conservative governments that allegedly encouraged speculation and stabilized under progressive governments that suppressed it, but the reality is the exact opposite."

Mayor Oh interpreted, "I believe the president has lost confidence in his real estate policy. The louder the slogans about cracking down on speculators become, and the more policies are packaged as reforms, the more it means this administration's real estate policy is heading toward failure."

He continued, "The president asked the people to be patient and wait a little longer. That is not something to say in front of citizens whose hearts are burning with anxiety because they cannot even find a home to move into right now amid the lease and rental crisis."

He concluded his post by urging, "Courageously acknowledge the failure of real estate policy over the past year, correct the misguided direction, and declare that you will start anew from scratch. Changing one's thinking and policies in the face of the public's suffering—that is truly the genuine courage the nation's top leader can show."

The previous day, President Lee reaffirmed his policy stance in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "I will definitely keep my promise to escape being a 'republic of real estate speculation.'"

In another successive post, he said, "Excluding conservative governments that encourage real estate speculation, every democratic administration has made efforts to curb real estate speculation, but we have not achieved the results as targeted. I ask you to be patient and wait a little longer. Please judge based on the results."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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