Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pushed back on a plan floated by the government and the ruling party to transfer permit authority for rebuilding and redevelopment projects of 500 units or fewer to district offices, saying such a shift would "make things slower." He blamed rising home prices on the outskirts of Seoul on the government's focus on owner-occupancy, and again drew a line against supplying housing on the Yongsan Park site.
Asked by Rep. Kang Myung-koo of the People Power Party whether handing authority over smaller redevelopment projects to district chiefs would speed up supply, Oh said on the 15th that it would "make things slower," during the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee's parliamentary audit of the Seoul city government held at Seoul City Hall. The city government said it is involved only in designating project zones and approving the formation of associations, while approvals such as project implementation already fall to district offices.
"We cut what used to take years at the zone designation and association formation stages down to four months," Oh said. "If authority is split up, the urban planning coordination function will weaken, and we will end up regretting it as disorderly development." On the Seoul Council of District Mayors passing a resolution calling for the transfer of authority a day earlier, after district chiefs from the People Power Party walked out, he asked for the National Assembly's cooperation. Rep. Lee Hae-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea countered that even if the city handles larger zones, districts are more than capable of managing projects of 300 to 500 units, and that dividing authority would naturally speed up smaller projects. Oh responded that district offices do not have trained staff to take on the work.
He pointed to government policy as the cause of rising home prices. Responding to a question from Rep. Joo Ho-young of the People Power Party, Oh said, "Jeonse — lump-sum deposit leases — and monthly rents are climbing steeply because of the current government's policy emphasizing owner-occupancy, and to make matters worse, there is no jeonse supply at all." He added, "A phenomenon is occurring in which people are being driven toward buying." He went on to say, "Apartment prices in outlying areas of Seoul that used to not rise, especially in the eastern and southwestern districts, keep going up." He also criticized the government's tax overhaul, saying it failed to stabilize the market and produced only side effects — rising jeonse and monthly rents and a sharp drop in jeonse supply.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to expanding supply. Oh said 15,000 units broke ground this year and laid out a plan to start construction on 310,000 units by 2031. "I will resolve difficulties on the ground and unreasonable regulations so that housing supply continues without interruption," he said, asking for the easing of restrictions on transferring association member status and of lending rules for relocation costs. On private rental operators, he stressed that "tax benefits or financial benefits must be raised really dramatically."
He drew a line against housing supply on the Yongsan Park site. "The government's plan to develop the sites of officers' quarters and military apartments into apartment complexes runs directly counter to the special act on Yongsan Park," Oh said, adding that "in an urgent survey by the Seoul city government, about two-thirds of residents opposed it." He also noted that soil contamination cleanup alone would take at least three to four years, and as long as six to seven, making it difficult to break ground within the current government's term. As an alternative, he proposed the site of the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Gangnam District, saying he would meet Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Hong Ji-sun soon to discuss it.
On the missing rebar at Samseong Station on the Great Train Express (GTX) Line A, he stressed that there is no safety problem. Responding to a question from Rep. Jin Jong-oh of the People Power Party, Oh said, "The missing rebar occurred on the fifth basement level, and the fourth and third levels are still under construction," citing expert advice. He said losses from the construction delay would be settled through an agreement with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on how to share responsibility, and that the matter could go to court if no agreement is reached.