[Local Election Interview] Park Yongjin Pitches Gimpo Airport New Town, Calls for a Clear Supply Signal

"A City of Relaxed Mornings and a Fast-Arriving Future"
Pushing a Major Shift to Flexible Work and Autonomous Driving
Confident That the Seoul Mayor Is the One Who "Opens New Roads"

"The Gimpo International Airport smart city was also one of President Lee Jaemyung's campaign pledges. Because the airport site can be used to create various developments that could change the lives of all Seoul citizens, we are seeking to push ahead with relocating the airport."

Park Yongjin, former lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, is being interviewed at Park One Tower in Yeouido, Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Former lawmaker Park Yongjin, who is being mentioned as a potential Seoul mayoral candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea, met with The Asia Business Daily in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 12th and said, "It is fully feasible to redistribute the functions of Gimpo Airport, and this has now become a national task."

Park explained, "Large-scale residential complexes have already been built on the sites of Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado in the United States and Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany." This means that the Gimpo Airport site can supplement the Lee Jaemyung administration's January 29 housing supply measures. He described the January 29 measures as "a hard-fought struggle." He then added, "I saw that the plan even included '35 units in Gwanak-gu,' which reads as if they scraped together everything they could," and said, "To ultimately elicit a response from the market, the government must demonstrate its determination through a clear supply signal."

The relocation of Gimpo Airport was a campaign pledge put forward by President Lee and Song Younggil, then the Seoul mayoral candidate, ahead of the June 2022 local and by-elections. The total area of the Gimpo Airport site is about 7.3 million square meters, similar in size to Wirye New Town.

Park Yongjin, a former Democratic Party lawmaker, is being interviewed at Park One Tower in Yeouido, Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Kang Jinhyeong

Park spent his school days in Seoul and has continued his political activities there. Twenty-six years ago, in 2000, when he was in his 20s, he created a sensation by running for the National Assembly in the Gangbuk-eul constituency of Seoul. Based on a clear blueprint and an outline for reform, he eventually became a two-term lawmaker representing Gangbuk-eul.

Park expressed confidence, saying that what Seoul needs in its mayor is not an administrator but a politician. "Someone who manages a two-lane road well is an administrator, while someone who decides that more roads must be opened because apartment complexes are going up everywhere is a politician," he said. "The mayor of Seoul should not be someone who merely maintains existing roads, but someone who creates and opens new ones."

He went on, "When I was a lawmaker, whenever I became convinced that 'if we change this, the future will be different,' I always created that path," introducing as a representative example what he called the "KOSPI 3000 Act." The amendment to the Commercial Act that Park proposed in 2020 included the introduction of electronic voting and cumulative voting, as well as separate election of audit committee members, with the aim of improving corporate governance. He named it the "KOSPI 3000 Act" to signify the goal of ushering in the KOSPI 3000 era.

Park has special feelings about the arrival of the "KOSPI 5000 era." It means that the aspirations he had for the development of the stock market while pushing the Commercial Act amendment under the Moon Jaein administration are now being realized under the Lee Jaemyung administration. "Because the government's will is clear, the market is responding," Park said. "I felt that this is what 'Lee Jaemyung gets things done' really looks like."

Park Yongjin, a former lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, is being interviewed at Park One Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 12th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The following is a Q&A with former lawmaker Park.

-You have said that you are currently living the daily life of a "political job seeker," similar to a job applicant preparing for employment.

▲Whether for local elections or by-elections, I needed a project to restart my political career. Since many job seekers in Korea make a point of obtaining Level 1 certification in the Korean History Proficiency Test, I decided to do the same as a political job seeker. The exam itself was difficult, and even the process of applying for it was tough. It was a meaningful experience because it allowed me to feel the psychological burden young people carry.

-Why did you set your sights on the Seoul mayoralty as the first step in your political comeback project?

▲Because I want to make Seoul "the city with the most relaxed mornings and the city where the future arrives the fastest." To make mornings more relaxed, you can introduce flexible working hours. In other words, why should every office worker have to work a standard "9 to 6" day? Adjustments to working hours before and after the COVID-19 pandemic have already been taking various forms. A flexible working system can bring more leisure into citizens' lives, ease traffic congestion, and is also expected to have the effect of bringing workplaces and homes closer together. Mass housing supply takes more than 10 years, while the term of the Seoul mayor is four years. Within a single term, the only realistic way to make homes and workplaces effectively closer is through flexible working hours.

-Will companies be willing to adopt flexible working hours?

▲The relaxed morning will start with the Seoul Metropolitan Government itself. We plan to fully introduce flexible working hours for a total of 100,000 people, including 50,000 Seoul city officials and 30,000 executives and employees of public institutions based in Seoul. Next will be the companies that receive orders from and win contracts with the city of Seoul. We can design the system to give extra points to companies that implement flexible working hours. We also plan to support shared offices for small and medium-sized enterprises and companies with five or fewer employees to encourage flexible commuting. There are many public facilities in Seoul, such as community service centers. If we develop these into workstations, we can create around 1,000 such locations.

Park Yongjin, former Democratic Party lawmaker, is being interviewed at Park One Tower in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 12th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

-What do you mean by "the city where the future arrives the fastest"?

▲It means autonomous driving. Seoul has fallen far behind even though it must compete with global cities. If you go to San Francisco in the United States or Beijing in China, robotaxis are already on the streets. In Seoul, autonomous vehicles are only in trial operation in parts of Gangnam and Sangam and along Cheonggyecheon. I am envisioning a direction in which the Seoul Metropolitan Government takes the lead and companies participate. The public sector must lay the groundwork for safety, data accumulation, and technology development, and establish a system in which the resulting profits can be shared with citizens.

-Is a major shift to autonomous driving feasible within a single mayoral term?

▲It is not difficult. The first area where it can be applied is city buses that run on fixed routes. For autonomous buses to operate, hundreds of companies will have to participate, from those that build the systems, to bus manufacturers, to software companies that develop safety and convenience features. We will allow various companies to gain experience and accumulate data, but plan to have them enter into equity-sharing agreements with the city of Seoul. Just as the city shares redevelopment gains with citizens in private redevelopment projects by increasing floor area ratios in exchange for rental housing, we intend to apply a similar model to the autonomous driving ecosystem.

-You mentioned a system for sharing autonomous driving profits with citizens.

▲We are envisioning a "Seoul-style 1,000-won taxi." In many small and mid-sized cities in the provinces, local governments already operate public taxis that allow socially vulnerable people such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant women to go out for a ride for 1,000 won. What if the Seoul Metropolitan Government were to launch a 1,000-won taxi service using the financial resources generated by autonomous driving projects? For example, if we set a rule that "every Seoul citizen aged 75 or older can use it three times a month," it would also serve as a senior welfare program. Frankly, even just the funds currently being poured into outdated projects like the Han River Bus or the Gwanghwamun Garden of Appreciation would be more than enough to fully implement a 1,000-won taxi program.

-The bus and taxi industries are likely to strongly oppose a transition to autonomous driving.

▲It makes no sense to forgo the future out of fear of disruption. City bus workers are concerned about job security, but there is a way for them to work not as drivers but as safety personnel. Even if Seoul is transformed into a fully autonomous-driving city, there will have to be a safety officer in the driver's seat for a certain period. Taxi operators will be direct beneficiaries of the 1,000-won taxi program. Providing a new mobility service to an aging population will generate enormous demand.

Park Yongjin, former Democratic Party lawmaker, is giving an interview at Park One Tower in Yeouido, Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

-It is impossible to talk about mobility rights without mentioning disability organizations.

▲Some of the demands of the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter NSED) are legitimate. Their assertion that everyone, whether disabled or not, should be able to conveniently access and use public transportation, which is a public asset of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is justified. As a result of their long-standing demands, elevators have been installed at most subway stations operated by the city of Seoul, which is also beneficial for the elderly and for parents pushing strollers. However, NSED's other demand for the complete restoration of jobs for people with disabilities in the Seoul Metropolitan Government is different. I do not think they should be making this demand by taking citizens' commutes hostage. This is an issue that should be resolved through consultations with the city. I would like to see legitimate demands and interest-based demands viewed separately.

-In the last general election you were at the center of controversy over so-called "anti-Lee faction bashing." Are you confident about winning the party primary?

▲That is still my biggest concern. If party members still remember me as someone who "died a dog's death" for being anti-Lee or for clashing with President Lee, and if I fail to change that perception, it will be difficult to run for mayor of Seoul. I am continuing efforts to dispel any sense of discord with party members and to align myself with their expectations. I hope they will see me as someone who "at least gets the job done."

-How do you assess the Lee Jaemyung administration nine months after its launch?

▲We have entered the KOSPI 5000 era. Because the government's will is clear, the market is responding. I made the same argument when I introduced the KOSPI 3000 Act during the Moon Jaein administration. However, it could not be realized because companies, especially controlling families, opposed it. The Lee Jaemyung administration pushed through despite continued opposition. I felt that this is what "Lee Jaemyung gets things done" really means.