Oh Se-hoon: "I will make Seoul a Special City for the Vulnerable to Walk Together"... New Slogan 'Togetherness·Charm Special City Seoul'

Inaugural Speech of Mayor Oh Se-hoon of Seoul's 8th Term... "Develop 'Companion Index for the Vulnerable' to Reflect in All Seoul Policies and Budget Execution from the Start"
"Determined to Normalize Redevelopment and Reconstruction to Stabilize the Housing Market"
Seoul Aims to Become a 'Global Top 5 City'... "Also Committed to Restoring Seoul"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is inspecting the heavy rain damage area in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] "I will make Seoul a special city that accompanies the vulnerable."

Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who began his term as the 8th elected mayor of Seoul, emphasized this in his inaugural speech held online on the 1st. Mayor Oh set the slogan "Accompanying and Attractive Special City Seoul" and announced plans to accelerate the development of a Vulnerable Accompaniment Index and the establishment of an age-specific customized childcare policy roadmap. He stated, "Together with the Seoul Metropolitan Council, I will surely fulfill the administrative vision promised for the next four years solely for the lives of citizens and the future of Seoul," and emphasized, "Accompanying the vulnerable is not a political slogan but the reason for my existence as mayor of Seoul and a lifelong mission."

Mayor Oh plans to fully implement the four major policies for vulnerable groups?livelihood, education, housing, and medical care?that he has been promoting since returning to office through last year's by-election. These four policies include the pilot project of ‘Safe Income,’ a bottom-up future welfare system, ‘Seoul Run’ to eliminate educational disparities, ‘Seoul-type High-Quality Rental Housing’ to change the paradigm of rental housing, and ‘Seoul-type Public Medical Service’ that allows vulnerable groups to enjoy medical services equivalent to the middle class or higher.

He said, "In particular, we will develop a ‘Vulnerable Accompaniment Index’ that can quantitatively show how much Seoul’s efforts for the vulnerable have actually helped, and reflect it from the policy formulation and budget execution stages of all Seoul city policies," adding, "We will carefully manage policies that consider all social vulnerable groups such as youth, the elderly, and single-person households." He continued, "We will create an atmosphere where ‘once a child is born, society will raise them’ and promptly present an age-specific customized childcare policy roadmap."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He also presented plans to stabilize the housing market by normalizing redevelopment and reconstruction. With housing prices trending downward and stabilizing, he expressed his determination to use all policy means without hesitation to supply as many new houses as possible. He plans to create a virtuous cycle where people start with rental housing for their first home and move on to sale housing.

Mayor Oh said, "We will complete the institutional foundation for normalizing housing supply and promptly promote redevelopment and reconstruction projects applying the rapid integrated planning," adding, "We will further activate small-scale housing maintenance projects such as Moa Housing and Moa Town, which bundle old low-rise residential areas." He also stated, "For those who still find it difficult to purchase housing, we will implement policies such as installment-type sale housing and land lease housing that allow stable residence and additional asset formation."

He expressed his determination to make Seoul one of the ‘Global Top 5 Cities.’ While fostering future growth engines to boost economic vitality, he also announced plans to develop the Yongsan International Business District into a ‘Smart City’ where science and technology are realized, in line with the Yongsan era ushered in by the presidential office relocation, making it a place to lead industry and economy as well as a forward base for digital transformation.

Mayor Oh said, "We will develop the old downtown areas such as Euljiro, Jongno, and Toegye-ro into high-density mixed business towns to strengthen the function of the city center, and create a ‘Global Innovation Core’ centered on the Han River by linking Yongsan’s international business functions and Yeouido’s global financial functions," adding, "We will develop the Yongsan International Business District into a ‘Smart City’ where science and technology are realized, and strengthen industrial competitiveness by establishing key hubs such as Dongdaemun as a core base for the beauty industry."

He also announced plans to complete the ‘Restoration of Seoul City’ that has been ongoing since last year. Mayor Oh emphasized that the ‘Restoration of Seoul City’ was blocked by the Seoul Metropolitan Council dominated by the Democratic Party over the past year, and that less than half of the desired level was achieved, vowing to restore fairness and efficiency in Seoul’s administration.

Mayor Oh explained, "We will thoroughly inspect whether there has been repeated support of private consignment funds and subsidies to specific civic groups, or whether personnel expenses have been excessively budgeted, and reorganize projects that were operated wastefully through ordinance amendments to ensure that the budget is properly used for citizens," adding, "We will increase trust in the administration through transparent handling, innovate policies with a future-oriented perspective, and promote them."