Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Criticizes Real Estate Policies in Foreign Media Interview: "Not Even 1 cm of Yongsan Park Can Be Given Up"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the government's mortgage regulations in a foreign media interview, stating, "While it actually becomes easier for wealthy individuals holding a lot of cash to buy homes, young people without cash on hand completely lose the opportunity to buy their first homes."

In an interview with Reuters published today (September 22), Mayor Oh criticized the lending regulations, saying they deal a particularly heavy blow to young people trying to purchase their first homes.

Mayor Oh pointed to the real estate loan regulations and tax hikes under the Lee Jae-myung administration as one of the causes of the housing crisis, arguing that policies restricting borrowing capacity failed to curb housing demand and instead drove up rents.

Reuters noted that while President Lee Jae-myung recently shifted some responsibility for the housing shortage onto the Seoul metropolitan government by pointing out in a press conference that housing approvals and construction starts have fallen to half of previous years, Mayor Oh has been criticizing the government's financial and tax policies.

Mayor Oh also reaffirmed his opposition to the current government's plan to supply housing on a portion of the Yongsan Park site.

"Differences of opinion surrounding Yongsan Park still remain," Mayor Oh said, adding, "Under no circumstances can I agree to use this place as an apartment site. We cannot give up even a single centimeter of the park site for apartment construction."

Mayor Oh added that Seoul is a "city of water and mountains" surrounded by the Han River and four mountains, and while distant green spaces are easily visible, the green spaces directly accessible in daily life are a different matter, noting that "the green space enjoyed by Seoul citizens is only a quarter of that enjoyed by London citizens."

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