Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Refutes President's Remarks on Housing Supply

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has directly pushed back against remarks by President Lee Jae-myung that appeared to point to him as the cause of rising housing prices in Seoul.

Mayor Oh criticized the government for shifting responsibility onto a successor, arguing that Seoul's housing supply cliff originated during the tenure of former Mayor Park Won-soon.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: Hearing the President make such far-fetched claims openly in a press conference, I could not help but feel deeply dismayed.]

During a press conference on September 18, President Lee stated that redevelopment and reconstruction project approvals dropped significantly after Mayor Oh took office.

[Lee Jae-myung / President: That was the year Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected. Since that year, the number of approvals and construction starts has been cut in half.]

Mayor Oh countered by presenting data.

Redvleopment projects typically take over 10 years, he noted, pointing out that between 2012 and 2020 under former Mayor Park, 389 project zones were canceled, amounting to 430,000 housing units. He asked rhetorically, "How can you issue permits when the foundation is gone?"

He explained that over the five years since his return to office, the city has designated an annual average of 35 new redevelopment zones, more than double the figure from the preceding decade, and that 310,000 housing units are scheduled to begin construction by 2031.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: We have restarted the redevelopment clock that had been halted during the previous mayor's tenure. Increasing supply and stabilizing the market is the path we must take, which is why we are urging the government to act.]

Regarding President Lee's use of the term "leveling" to describe falling housing prices in Gangnam and rising prices in outer areas, Mayor Oh said he was concerned by the underlying mindset.

Mayor Oh expressed concern over the government's push to transfer authority for approving redevelopment projects of 500 households or fewer to autonomous districts, citing risks of disorderly development, and repeatedly proposed utilizing the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center instead of supplying housing in Yongsan Park.

Regarding the government's August 13 real estate measures, he decided to request additional institutional improvements, including a temporary three-year relaxation on restrictions regarding the transfer of union member status, adjustments to the required proportion of redevelopment rental housing, and the relaxation of the legal maximum floor area ratio for private redevelopment projects.

(Video reporting: Joo Beom, Kim Heung-ki | Video editing: Wi Won-yang | Production: Digital News Department)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.