Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok's Attempt to Recall Residents Over Taereung Golf Course Development Fails

Conditions for Recall Vote Require 15% Consent of Local Voters... In Nowon-gu, Over 66,000 Valid Signatures Needed from 440,000 Voters... Valid Signatures Fell Short in April 22?June 21 Petition, Seen as Support for Mayor Oh Seung-rok... Mayor Oh Has No Authority over Taereung Golf Course Development under Special Law, Calls for Practical Alternatives

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The recall effort against Oh Seung-rok, the mayor of Nowon District, initiated by some resident groups due to perceived lukewarm attitude toward the government's plan to develop the Taereung Golf Course site into residential land, has ultimately failed.

Under current law, a recall vote requires the consent of 15% of the local electorate. From April 22 to May 21, a 60-day signature collection campaign was conducted at high-traffic locations such as in front of department stores, large apartment complexes, and walking paths in central Nowon, but the number of valid signatures fell short of the required amount.

Nowon District has approximately 440,000 eligible voters, and the number of signatures needed to initiate the recall was about 66,000.

Meanwhile, the group leading the recall signature campaign, “Citizens Protecting Green Taereung,” decided not to submit the signature book to the election commission and instead to destroy it themselves, which is interpreted as due to the number of signatures being far below the minimum threshold (about 66,000).

Furthermore, the failure to meet the signature requirement appears to have strengthened Mayor Oh Seung-rok’s position. The Taereung Golf Course residential development is being pursued under the Special Act on Public Housing, which exempts it from approval procedures, meaning local governments have no authority over it.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok’s stance is not to oppose unconditionally but to seek realistic alternatives. While fundamentally opposing the government’s development plan, he has worked to prepare alternatives, fully convey residents’ opinions, and urge the government to establish measures acceptable to the residents.

On the day the government announced its August 4 policy last year, Mayor Oh sent a letter to the president expressing local residents’ concerns about the development of the greenbelt site and has been continuously consulting with local lawmakers and the government.

The letter to the president requested the withdrawal of the plan, stating, “Supplying 10,000 housing units without sufficient infrastructure around the site would be a disaster, turning Nowon District into an even more serious bedroom community,” and proposed three points.

First, if apartment construction on the Taereung Golf Course site is inevitable, reduce the number of units from 10,000 to 5,000, lower the rental housing ratio for youth and newlyweds to below 35%, and develop it as a high-quality residential complex led by the private sector.

Second, convert 50% of the Taereung Golf Course site into a park to return it to the residents. Third, considering the severe traffic congestion caused by nearby new town developments, establish groundbreaking traffic measures.

Thanks to these efforts, the Taereung Golf Course site was excluded from the pre-sale schedule announced by the government on April 21 for this year’s housing supply sites, citing the need for “completion of consultations with residents and related agencies” before announcement.

Additionally, following Mayor Oh Seung-rok’s requests, the government agreed to minimize the public housing ratio and expand general sales in the Taereung Golf Course development, create a park larger than Yeouido Park (230,000㎡) like Ilsan Lake Park and Bundang Central Park, and protect the World Cultural Heritage by undergrounding the road in front of Taegangneung and creating a park above it, achieving tangible and visible results.

Nowon District is conducting a separate traffic study apart from the government’s traffic measures.

They are actively consulting with government agencies as well. Meetings with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Cultural Heritage Administration, lawmakers’ briefings, and frequent site visits are being held to prepare response plans.

Moreover, to fundamentally and dramatically improve housing supply expansion and the residential environment in the area, Nowon District, jointly with Seoul City, has officially requested the government to relax the safety inspection standards for reconstruction. Approximately 59,000 households, accounting for 46% of all apartments, have reached the reconstruction eligibility period, expected to increase to about 130,000 households by 2030, but the stricter safety inspection standards strengthened in 2018 have made progress difficult.

Currently, Nowon District has formed its own T/F team and plans to promote apartment reconstruction reasonably based on the results of support activation studies.

The failure of the recall effort against the Nowon District mayor has sparked calls for system improvements from many residents and experts who have observed the process.

In particular, concerns have been raised about the appropriateness of the current recall process led by some residents against elected officials chosen through elections. The unclear reasons for recall efforts risk political misuse and cause conflicts and divisions among residents. If it leads to a referendum, it could disrupt practical projects for Nowon residents, with the damage ultimately borne by the residents themselves.

Another issue is the cost borne by residents’ taxes. Nowon District paid about 254 million won to the election commission for costs incurred during the signature collection process related to this recall. If it had proceeded to the voting stage, an additional approximately 2 billion won would have been spent. Fortunately, the process ended with a number far below the valid vote threshold, but the election commission is believed to have already spent tens of millions of won operating the fair election advisory group.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I appreciate the residents’ voluntary efforts to protect Nowon’s natural environment and cultural heritage,” and added, “I will do my best to ensure that the diverse opinions of residents who wish for the region’s development are fully conveyed and that related policies are promoted.”