"Restricting Freedom of Residence, Opposing Greenbelt Release"... How is the Democratic Party Reacting?

[Anchor]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has called for a reconsideration of the government's tax reform and housing supply measures, criticizing them as "violating even the freedom of relocation." He repeatedly voiced opposition to lifting greenbelt restrictions and utilizing the Yongsan Park site. While the Democratic Party urged the Seoul city government to cooperate, voices within the party calling for revisions to the government's plan are also growing louder.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Today (August 14), the day after the government announced its August 13 real estate measures, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended a People Power Party floor strategy meeting.

Regarding the government's tax reform plan, Mayor Oh argued, "It judges citizens as speculators based solely on whether they actually reside in the property," and condemned it as "a violent tax hike that even infringes upon the freedom of relocation."

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: A full-scale reconsideration must begin with these policies obsessed with actual residency, which destabilize the leasing market and heighten public distress.]

Mayor Oh also reiterated his opposition to lifting greenbelt restrictions and utilizing the Yongsan Park site for housing supply, stating that "it is an unnecessary and unwise judgment."

The People Power Party kept up its offensive, claiming that the government's tax reform is a "tax bomb" and its supply measures are a "deceptive numbers game."

In response, the Democratic Party hit back by accusing the People Power Party of blocking the passage of legislation to promote housing supply, while urging the Seoul metropolitan government to proactively cooperate with the government's supply measures.

[Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: Does the speed of housing supply accelerate just by hurling verbal bombs while failing to fulfill one's own responsibilities?]

However, calls for modifications to the tax reform plan continued to emerge within the Democratic Party, particularly centered around lawmakers representing the greater Seoul metropolitan area.

[Min Byung-duk / Democratic Party Lawmaker (MBC Radio 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus'): There are far too many inconveniences and a sense of unfairness. Implementing it so abruptly will inevitably cause problems.]

Kim Min-seok, a candidate for party leadership, stated, "The abolition of long-term holding special deductions for single-home non-residents is in some aspects effectively a tax increase, and there are concerns that it could trigger side effects such as forcing tenants out." He added that the party plans to revise and supplement the plan through party-government consultations after the national convention.

(Video by: Oh Young-chun, Shin Dong-hwan, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Park Sun-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.