Oh Se-hoon: "Claims of Bottlenecks in Redevelopment Reviews Are Dishonest... The Results Tell a Different Story"

From the left, Jae-seop Kim, member of the People Power Party, Se-hoon Oh, Mayor of Seoul, and Byungmin Kim, Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul, are attending the discussion forum titled "Causes and Solutions for the Housing Supply Cliff in Seoul" held on the 27th, listening to the speeches. Photo by Lee Jung-yoon

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has made it clear that he opposes the argument that the authority to review redevelopment projects should be transferred to district offices.

After attending the discussion forum titled "Causes and Solutions for the Housing Supply Cliff in Seoul," hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Chapter of the People Power Party’s Special Committee for Normalizing the Housing Ladder at the National Assembly on the 27th, Mayor Oh told reporters, "Some claim that the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s review process causes bottlenecks by taking one to two years, and therefore the licensing authority should be transferred to the district offices. However, if you look at the results from the past three years, such claims are unfounded," he countered.

He continued, "The average processing time for the Urban Planning Subcommittee for Redevelopment Projects is 84 days, and the integrated review for redevelopment projects, which is conducted before project approval, is completed in an average of 32 days. To call this a bottleneck is simply dishonest," he emphasized.

Mayor Oh also stated, "Moreover, under the current legal system, most of the licensing authority for redevelopment projects already resides with the district offices. The claim that the licensing authority should be moved to the district offices because the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s review is delayed is not only false but also a political argument."

Additionally, he addressed the repeated assertion that "out of 224 sites designated for the Fast-Track Integrated Planning, only two have started construction," calling it a distortion. He said, "This is like ignoring the procedures of redevelopment projects and demanding a harvest just one day after sowing seeds by force."

However, Mayor Oh noted that a consensus is being formed within the working-level consultative body established with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to address housing supply. He said, "Overall, the discussions have been very cooperative. Since private sector supply accounts for 90%, I have conveyed that there are limits to public sector supply, and there is a certain level of consensus on this point as well."

Regarding the possible lifting of land transaction permit zones in certain areas of Seoul, he stated, "We are sharing the view with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that, for areas where real estate prices have not risen but are still subject to some regulations, we should continue to monitor transaction trends and look for the right timing to lift these restrictions." On the issue of lifting greenbelt zones, he said, "It is not a matter that the city and the Ministry are currently prioritizing for discussion. It is not included in our proposals."

Regarding the controversy over the building height plan for the Sewoon District 4 area in front of Jongmyo, he proposed forming a tripartite consultative body consisting of the government, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and resident representatives. Mayor Oh stated, "If about two experts participate in this consultative body, it will enable more objective and scientific discussions," adding, "It is necessary for the government, the city, resident groups, and experts to participate together in discussions on related issues such as the World Heritage Impact Assessment, and the proposal to form such a consultative body has already been made to the government."