Oh Se-hoon "Plan to Order Reinvestigation of Official Land Prices... Will Negotiate Freeze with Government"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon (right) visited Seobuk Hospital in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul on the 9th to check the current status of COVID-19 response, guided by Hospital Director Park Chan-byeong. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Oh Se-hoon, the newly appointed mayor of Seoul, announced that the city government will push for a reassessment of the publicly announced prices of apartment complexes.

After visiting the Seoul Station COVID-19 temporary screening clinic today (the 10th), Mayor Oh told reporters, "I want to believe that it will be possible to negotiate with the central government so that the publicly announced prices do not rise at a more rapid pace."

Mayor Oh said, "As a preparatory step, we plan to reassess cases that require partial reassessment to establish grounds for freezing prices," adding, "I will instruct a thorough review during the process of identifying related tasks early next week."

Regarding the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's rebuttal to the appeals against the publicly announced prices in Seocho-gu and Jeju-do, Mayor Oh said, "It is not desirable to excessively increase the tax burden." He added, "Although negotiations with the government will be necessary, I expect that if we propose based on a proper reassessment, the central government will find it difficult to refuse until the end."

Mayor Oh also pointed out, "A sudden increase in publicly announced prices affects more than 60 types of economic burdens, including tax increases and health insurance premiums," and stated, "As originally promised, Seoul City should clearly state its position, and from that perspective, we have raised the issue and started a review."

Meanwhile, Mayor Oh pledged to strive to freeze next year's publicly announced prices, considering this year's increase rate to be excessively high, regarding the '2021 Apartment Complex Publicly Announced Price Plan' announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 15th of last month.