[Local Election Interview] Kim Youngbae: "A Problem-Solver With Experience From District Office to the Blue House"

"Running for Mayor of Seoul" Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Youngbae
"Mastering everything from 'management administration' to 'planning administration'"
"Jeong Wonoh is excellent, but his leadership in comprehensive administration needs to be verified"
Supplying housing for one- to two-person households through development of quasi-industrial districts

"I will be the problem-solver for Seoul."

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Youngbae, who has declared his candidacy for Mayor of Seoul in the 9th nationwide local elections to be held on June 3, met with The Asia Business Daily at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 13th and said, "Seoul, which for about 100 years has been a symbol of growth and success, is now showing the face of a city in decline, with polarization becoming ever more serious," adding, "In this election, the person who becomes Mayor of Seoul must be someone who can solve this problem." Kim, a former mayor of Seongbuk-gu and former Blue House official under the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, said that to make Seoul a global city, someone like himself, who has mastered everything from "management administration" to "planning administration," is the right person for the job.

Interview_Kim Youngbae, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

Drawing on his successful urban planning experience, Kim introduced the "Companion Contract" and "Challenge Stay" policies that he first implemented in Seongbuk-gu during his term as mayor. The Companion Contract replaced the terms "gap" and "eul" (Party A and Party B) with "dong" and "haeng" (companions) in Seongbuk-gu public contracts, and served to codify, through ordinances, measures such as banning unfair treatment of apartment security guards, which had become controversial as a form of abuse of power. Challenge Stay was a policy that allowed public rental housing, which previously could only be occupied by low-income households, to be provided to young entrepreneurs so they could use it as both office and residence.

Regarding Jeong Wonoh, mayor of Seongdong-gu, who currently ranks first in public opinion polls on suitability as the ruling party’s candidate for Mayor of Seoul, Kim said, "He is an extremely capable and excellent public official," but added, "It is necessary to verify whether he has the leadership not only for management administration but also for planning administration, and furthermore, for conceiving comprehensive administration." Immediately after announcing his bid for mayor, Kim also reached an agreement with the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) to halt their rush-hour subway protests until the end of the local elections. He said, "When politics is irresponsible, citizens end up fighting each other. The problem is that politicians, who should mediate or take responsibility, do not step up."

Recently, he proposed that Seoul mayoral candidates hold a public policy debate on the reform of the semi-public operation system for city buses in Seoul. Kim argued, "In the short term, we need to recalculate the standard transportation cost, and in the long term, we should distinguish between profitable routes and routes with deteriorating profitability, maintain the semi-public system only for the profitable routes, and negotiate to take back the deficit routes one by one."

Kim’s flagship pledge is to make Seoul a "Special City of Time Equality." He said, "Some people waste three hours a day commuting to the same workplace," and pledged to create "10-minute station areas." To this end, he said he would supply housing for one- to two-person households through high-density mixed-use development of quasi-industrial districts in areas such as Yeongdeungpo, Sinchon-Hongdae, Cheongnyangni, and Dongdaemun-Seongsu. In addition, he said he is planning to: ▲ develop three major hubs within Seoul as gateway cities connected with Gyeonggi Province, and ▲ promote the Gangbuk East-West Line and improve infrastructure in the northern part of the city by measures such as making village buses free and fully introducing electric "Ttareungi" (the public bicycle service operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government).

Interview_Kim Youngbae, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

The following is a Q&A with Assemblyman Kim.

- Why did you decide to run?

▲ Polarization in Seoul is now so severe that the balance between Gangnam and Gangbuk has completely collapsed and the gap is far too wide. Young people are leaving Seoul. I served as a district mayor for about eight years and I also have experience in the Blue House. In addition to my role as a lawmaker, I have gained perspective through diplomatic activities as a secretary-general of the Korea-U.S. Parliamentary Exchange. At this moment, when a true problem-solver is needed, I made up my mind to step up as the problem-solver for Seoul.

- What do you see as your strengths?

▲ There are two types of administration. One is "management administration," close to the work of basic local governments, such as responding to civil complaints. The other is "planning administration," which designs the future. In particular, for Seoul, as a metropolitan local government, to become a global city, the planning administration aspect, in other words politics, is crucial. Through my experience in the Presidential Office at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, I acquired the perspective to see the whole picture. This is the leadership most suitable for the Mayor of Seoul.

- Jeong Wonoh, mayor of Seongdong-gu, who is also expected to run for Mayor of Seoul, is likewise a former basic local government head.

▲ Mayor Jeong has been praised by the President, and I agree with that assessment. However, from the standpoint of a competitor, I believe that the leadership currently required of the Mayor of Seoul in the Republic of Korea cannot be limited to the realm of management. More verification of leadership is needed at the level of comprehensive administration.

- You have emphasized "resolving time inequality."

▲ I concluded that if we slightly change Seoul’s urban structure and planning, we can give individuals more opportunity in terms of time. First of all, the distance between workplaces and residences for Seoul citizens is far too great. Getting around is very inconvenient, and public facilities and high-quality public resources are overly concentrated in certain areas. That is why I proposed a jobs-housing-proximity megacity. We must push ahead with high-density mixed-use development not only in Yeongdeungpo but also in Sinchon-Hongdae, Cheongnyangni, and Dongdaemun-Sangsu, and focus on supplying housing for one- to two-person households. More than half of Seoul’s households consist of one or two people, yet the housing supplied through redevelopment and reconstruction is generally based on a four-person household standard.

- How do you evaluate Mayor Oh, the incumbent and a leading candidate of the People Power Party?

▲ The number of housing units scheduled for occupancy in Seoul this year is about 4,200. It is generally said that about 40,000 to 60,000 units are needed, so this is less than one-tenth of what is required. The reason President Lee Jae-myung is urging multi-homeowners to sell and continuously release properties onto the market is that there is no new supply. I believe the original sin for this lies entirely with Mayor Oh and former President Yoon Suk Yeol.

- As a mayoral candidate, why did you choose to negotiate with the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination?

▲ When politics is irresponsible, citizens end up fighting each other. To be honest, I did not really expect it to work out, but I think there was some trust in me from my days as mayor of Seongbuk-gu. When I was mayor, other districts sometimes deployed police in response to SADD protests, but I never did that. I tried to resolve things through dialogue.

- Do you have any differentiated ideas regarding the semi-public operation system for city buses?

▲ The key issue is the standard transportation cost. Because the cost per bus in city bus operations is calculated as a standard price and the city makes up the difference between revenue and expenses, there seems to be a lack of incentive to pursue change. We need to recalculate the standard transportation cost. Also, I believe we should maintain the semi-public system only for profitable routes and negotiate to take back the deficit routes one by one. Rather than the Seoul Metropolitan Government simply buying them, it would be better to have entities such as Seoul Metro participate and create a public fund in which citizens can participate.

- What are your ideas for areas that are unfavorable to the Democratic Party, such as Gangnam and the Han River belt?

▲ This local election is in effect being held on the basis of the President’s performance in state affairs. If President Lee’s fight against speculative forces succeeds, I think it will also help in this local election. I believe more citizens understand President Lee’s policy of encouraging supply while creating a predictable market, rather than cracking down on the market. On the contrary, talking glibly as if doing a better job of real estate development will somehow make Seoul more glamorous is precisely what could provoke resentment from Gangnam residents.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.