Oh Se-hoon fires back at Cheong Wa Dae aide, calls redevelopment 'master key' for housing

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Monday pushed back against presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom, insisting that redevelopment and reconstruction are "exactly the master key" to supplying quality housing in the city center — a direct rebuttal of remarks Kim made Sunday.

Oh made the comments in a Facebook post titled "The Lee Jae Myung government's attitude is the biggest risk to housing supply."

"Seoul is no longer a city with vacant land to spare," Oh said. "We cannot secure new housing sites without limit, nor can we keep expanding the city outward. Ultimately, Seoul's housing supply depends on how efficiently we reorganize the existing urban core — redevelopment and reconstruction are the central supply tool and an essential task."

Oh said it was regrettable that the Lee Jae Myung government still viewed urban renewal projects through an ideological lens, treating them as symbols of speculation. "The real estate market cannot be solved by pressing down with one regulation, one loan restriction, or one tax measure," he said. "An approach that tries to manage prices without any conviction about supply has already failed countless times."

He said the public sector has a role to play, but added that the idea of the government leading everything "ignores reality." "We have seen time and again how plans stall and collapse, from land acquisition to administrative procedures," he said, and went on to say that private renewal projects already moving forward with residents' consent are a different matter. "What is needed now is not creating a new system, but adding greater momentum to an engine that is already running. Removing unnecessary regulations and picking up speed is the fastest and most efficient path to supply."

Oh said the government's dogmatic dismissal of urban renewal projects "is itself the biggest risk unsettling the market." "Do they truly not realize that such shortsighted thinking sends a crisis signal to the market — that there will be no new apartment supply in the city center — and will only fuel price instability?" he said.

"The Seoul Metropolitan Government is focused solely on getting things done properly and quickly," Oh said. "Political calculations and face-saving battles are not part of the equation. What is needed now is not a public-led, credit-grabbing measure, but removing unnecessary regulations and adding momentum to the engine of private renewal projects already running on the ground."

Kim had appeared Sunday on KBS's Sunday Diagnosis program, where he addressed Oh's proposal to boost housing supply through redevelopment and reconstruction, saying "redevelopment and reconstruction do not secure supply in the short term" and that they are "not a master key." Kim said procedures for redevelopment and reconstruction could be streamlined and floor-area ratio discussions were possible, but noted that "in theory, redevelopment and reconstruction take at least three to five years." He added that the current shortage stems from supply disruptions during a specific past period, and that a decision to push ahead with redevelopment and reconstruction would actually reduce near-term supply further. "People will have to relocate, won't they?" he said.