Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Meets Land Minister Kim Yun-deok to Discuss Housing Supply

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who has criticized the real estate policy stance of the Lee Jae-myung administration, met with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok to discuss ways to expand housing supply.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Mayor Oh and Minister Kim held a closed-door meeting today (July 24) to exchange views on overall policies, including the current state of the housing market and expanding housing supply.

As the triple-strength trend of rising housing purchase prices, jeonse (lump-sum deposits), and monthly rent continues, the government has been gathering public sentiment, such as holding a national public debate on real estate policy presided over by President Lee Jae-myung the previous day.

Having actively voiced opinions regarding government real estate policy recently—including attending a cabinet meeting on the 14th of this month—Mayor Oh is believed to have conveyed his views to Minister Kim during the meeting.

In particular, Mayor Oh has pointed out that the government's real estate policies have focused on demand suppression, loan regulations, and tax increases, while advocating for an expanded supply and the revitalization of private redevelopment and reconstruction to achieve it.

Mayor Oh and Minister Kim also discussed the volume of housing supply for the Yongsan International Business District, an issue on which the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the government have failed to narrow their differences.

The Yongsan International Business District was originally planned to supply approximately 6,000 housing units, but the government announced plans to supply 10,000 units there when it unveiled the January 29 real estate supply measures this year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government expressed concerns that supplying 10,000 units would undermine its function as a business hub as initially envisioned and delay the project due to administrative procedures, maintaining its stance that a maximum of 8,000 units is the limit.

While media reports emerged today stating that "Mayor Oh conveyed his intent to review the supply of 10,000 units under conditional terms during the meeting," both the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that this was not true.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that "nothing has been concretely decided or agreed upon regarding the Yongsan International Business District," and an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport similarly stated that "it is not at a stage where consultations are finalized, and related matters are currently under discussion."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.