Oh Se-hoon: "Social Housing is Something SH Can Do... Only Citizens' Taxes Were Wasted"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon reiterated the need for an audit of the social housing project on the 13th, stating, "We need to examine whether other organizations interfering in the work that Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH) can do caused an increase in costs."

Mayor Oh made these remarks during a press conference on private subsidies and private consignment projects in the civil society sector held at Seoul City Hall that morning.

Earlier, on the 1st, the city announced it would conduct an audit of the entire social housing project. The audit is currently underway with the goal of completing it by the 30th and producing the results next month.

Social housing is a project initiated in 2015 to supply stable rental housing at affordable rents for socioeconomically vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly, and young single-person households. It is carried out in cooperation with private entities such as social enterprises and social cooperatives. The city has supported social housing operators with construction costs, project expenses, loan interest, and low land lease fees.

However, following the city's audit announcement, controversies arose, including accusations of targeting civic groups and erasing traces of the former mayor.

In response, Mayor Oh said, "I fully acknowledge the positive role of social enterprises," but emphasized, "SH, whose raison d'?tre is to supply rental housing, should be the one to handle this work."

He argued that private sector involvement led to waste of public funds and caused cost increases. Mayor Oh stated, "Although SH could handle it, an organization representing socio-economic actors interfered, leading the city to lend land, support interest, and even provide business loan financing," adding, "The source of the project funds was citizens' tax money."

He continued, "However, these entities repeatedly postponed, delayed, and deferred repayment of loans received from the city and failed to return tenant deposits, directly harming tenants," emphasizing, "Although it is said that the debts of insolvent social housing operators were assumed, that money was also covered by citizens' tax money."

Mayor Oh added, "Since this is work to supply rental housing without going through SH, unless absolutely unavoidable, it is necessary to reconsider the project structure to determine whether it is desirable for other organizations to interfere and increase costs," and "If contradictions are found during the operation process, corrective measures are also needed."

Regarding criticism that this is an attempt to erase the legacy of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, he stated, "This audit is not intended to reexamine the former mayor's work from scratch," and firmly said, "The goal of the audit is to review strengths and weaknesses, find ways to maximize project effectiveness, and minimize budget leakage."