Oh Se-hoon "Will Reduce Half of Seoul City's Regulatory Authority"

Attended New Year's Meeting Co-hosted by Chamber of Commerce
Oh: "Fundamental Solution to Revitalize Private Sector"
"Building an Innovation Ecosystem with Government and Companies"

On June 6, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced, "We will reduce half of Seoul City's regulatory authority." Emphasizing that "deregulation is the key to revitalizing the livelihood economy," Mayor Oh, who made 'deregulation' the first administrative agenda of the new year, expressed confidence by stating, "We will boldly put this into practice."

On the same morning, Mayor Oh attended the '2025 Seoul New Year's Meeting' held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry International Conference Hall, co-hosted by Seoul City and the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he remarked, "Reviving the vitality of the private sector is the fundamental solution."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivers a New Year's address at the '2025 Seoul New Year's Meeting' held on the 6th. Photo by Seoul City

The meeting, which began with a moment of silence for the victims of the Jeju Air passenger plane accident, was attended by over 600 people including Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Choi Ho-jung, Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council; Jung Geun-sik, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education; as well as foreign diplomats in Korea, and representatives from the legal, economic, religious, and media sectors.

Mayor Oh expressed condolences to the victims and their families of the tragic passenger plane accident that brought great sorrow, and began his New Year's address by urging everyone to work together to create a society where such tragedies do not recur. He stated, "This year, we will continue to strive to protect the lives of citizens steadily and make them more prosperous, which is Seoul City's most important responsibility."

In particular, Mayor Oh referred to the theme "Is South Korea okay as it is?" proposed last year by Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who was present at the event, saying, "It was a profound question that made us reflect on the reality of our economy entering a long-term low-growth phase," and added, "I fully agree with that awareness." He reiterated Seoul City's determination to focus on deregulation this year.

Earlier, in his New Year's address for Seoul City, Mayor Oh declared a "war on regulation," stating, "The fundamental remedy to open the social and economic lifelines and restore vitality is deregulation." At that time, along with the determination to "move beyond regulatory reform to full-scale deregulation to create an environment where innovation and creativity can flourish," he launched a public contest for unnecessary regulatory ideas and immediately introduced the first and second deregulation measures, including easing the mandatory ratio of commercial spaces in mixed-use residential buildings and expanding exemptions from environmental impact assessments.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to a daily revolution through the expansion of 'million-seller policies' such as the Climate Companion Card and Wrist Doctor 9988. Mayor Oh added, "This year, we will provide more benefits to citizens through the introduction of tagless (contactless public transportation payment) and linking with Han River buses." Furthermore, he expressed his intention to invest in the future, saying, "Now is the time to plant another apple tree in new fields such as AI (artificial intelligence), bio, and robotics," and pledged to build a technological innovation ecosystem with the government, companies, and universities.