Han Byung-do Fires Back at Seoul Mayor: "Housing Supply Takes Priority Over Securing Mayor's Authority"

Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-do stated regarding housing supply measures, "We must find ways to utilize Tancheon and Yongsan for the housing of young people and ordinary citizens accordingly."

During a policy coordination meeting held at the National Assembly today (the 27th), Floor Leader Han made the remarks, saying, "Wherever necessary housing can be secured, we must keep possibilities open and examine them."

While the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport maintains the stance of supplying housing limited to damaged areas within Yongsan Park, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon opposes this and proposed the site of the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, as an alternative housing supply site.

Floor Leader Han asked back, "What is most desperate for the public right now is the speed of supply," and added, "How can the public understand Mayor Oh's attitude that while supply is desperately needed, certain sites cannot even be discussed?"

He continued, "Unshaken by Mayor Oh and the People Power Party's irresponsible stalling, the Democratic Party will definitely finalize follow-up legislation for the government's supply measures," emphasizing, "In addition, we will actively review plans to transfer the authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 households or fewer from the Seoul Mayor to basic local governments."

He then pointed out, "What the public is waiting for is not the preservation of the Seoul Mayor's authority, but housing supplied in a timely manner," adding, "Worrying about the mayor's authority rather than housing supply is truly putting the cart before the horse."

Regarding the case involving the false closure of the missing person case of the late Chang Mi-ran, Floor Leader Han said, "The expansion of investigative powers [following the prosecution reform] is not a gift of authority, but a mandate for heavier responsibility," and noted, "We cannot leave reform solely to the police's self-purification efforts."

He added, "We must also establish an integrated system where the National Police Agency, local governments, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety promptly share missing person information and respond together," and urged, "We must thoroughly uncover why the command and supervision system failed to operate while a single assigned police officer closed 298 missing person cases over a period of one year and five months."

Furthermore, he promised, "This incident is re-illuminating the necessity of the long-standing legislative task of the absence of an adult missing persons act," and vowed, "We will expedite discussions on related bills during the upcoming regular session of the National Assembly."
 

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