"Moon Administration Promised 33,000 Public Housing Units, Delivered Only 2,200"
"Market Principles Ignored in Pursuit of Public Omnipotence Ideology"
Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon strongly criticized the housing supply policy of the Lee Jae-myung administration as a "repetition of past failures," pointing out, "The public will no longer be deceived by empty promises."
On the 19th, Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon strongly criticized the housing supply policy of the Lee Jae-myung administration as a "repetition of past failures."
On the 19th, in a post on his Facebook page, Mayor Oh directly addressed the government's decision to revive a public-led housing supply policy, stating, "The Lee Jae-myung administration's housing supply measures can be summed up as 'a commitment to repeat the same failures.'"
He said, "The Moon Jae-in administration boasted that it would supply 33,000 housing units in Seoul through public initiatives, but in reality, only 2,200 units were actually delivered. It was a disastrous failure, yet the Lee Jae-myung administration is once again playing the 'public-led' card. There is no sign of any learning effect," he pointed out.
Mayor Oh emphasized that the public-led model cannot realistically solve the housing supply issue. He explained, "Looking at the reality of Seoul's housing supply over the past 20 years, the solution is clear. The private sector accounted for 88.1%, while the public sector made up only 11.9%-an overwhelming gap of nearly tenfold. Of the 11.9% classified as 'public,' only 2.2% was actually led by the central government, such as the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH)."
He continued, "Nevertheless, the Lee Jae-myung administration is obsessed with the ideology of public omnipotence and insists on leading everything itself," arguing that the current government remains stuck in an inefficient policy framework.
Mayor Oh proposed the "private-led, public-supported" model being pursued by the Seoul Metropolitan Government as an alternative. He stated, "The true role of the public sector is to ease regulations and simplify procedures so that the private sector can supply housing quickly. Through Seoul's expedited integrated planning, we have shortened procedures that used to take five years to about two and a half years, and established the foundation to supply 245,000 housing units. This is the result we have achieved."
He added, "Because the Lee Jae-myung administration does not understand these principles, even if it announces so-called 'drastic measures,' the market response is actually moving in the opposite direction."
Finally, Mayor Oh stressed, "Housing supply should be judged by results, not ideology," and reiterated, "The public will no longer be deceived by empty promises. It is time to end this d?j? vu of repeating the same failures."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
