[Anchor]

When the government and the ruling party announced plans to transfer approval authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 households or fewer to basic local government heads, the Seoul Metropolitan Government immediately pushed back the next day. Arguing that lengthy project timelines are not due to Seoul holding approval rights, the city faced a counter-response from the Democratic Party, which reaffirmed its commitment to push ahead with the plan.

Reporter Yun Nara has the details.

[Reporter]

Regarding the ruling coalition's plan to grant autonomous districts authority over urban maintenance projects of 500 households or fewer in Seoul to accelerate project pace, the Seoul Metropolitan Government criticized it as being "out of touch with the field."

The city explained that out of the nine stages of an urban maintenance project—which typically takes over 12 years—only two stages fall under the city's approval authority, taking merely about four months, while the remaining seven stages are already under the authority of autonomous districts.

In particular, the city raised concerns that applying different maintenance standards across autonomous districts could lead to project fragmentation and chaotic development driven by individual association demands for profitability, which might actually cause further delays.

The city pointed out that what is truly needed to accelerate urban maintenance projects is "relaxation of government regulations."

[Kim Dong-gu / Acting Director-General for Urban Planning, Seoul Metropolitan Government: What actually blocks projects in the field are government regulations, such as restrictions on relocation expense loans and the transfer of union member status. (The government) must completely review policies that only amplify confusion in the field.]

Immediately following the Seoul city briefing, the Democratic Party released a statement declaring it would fulfill its legislative responsibilities to accelerate housing supply, repeatedly confirming its determination to transfer urban maintenance project authority to autonomous districts, as discussed in the high-level party-government meeting.

The party also pressured Seoul regarding the Yongsan Park housing supply plan.

[Han Byeong-do / Floor Leader, Democratic Party: We must discuss with all possibilities open, exploring whether there is a way to supply housing while maintaining the principles of park functionality and green space preservation.]

Seoul stated that its own public opinion poll showed 63 percent of citizens oppose supplying housing in Yongsan Park, clearly maintaining its stance of "impossible."

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul (Oh Se-hoon TV): If I were to agree to turning even a part of Yongsan into apartment sites, I (feel the heavy responsibility that) I would go down in history as a sinner for generations to come.]

Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-deok are scheduled to meet again this week to continue discussions.

(Video by: Joo Bum, Kim Heung-ki | Video Editing by: Yoon Tae-ho)