'Build homes, don't raise taxes': Seoul mayor meets Cheong Wa Dae policy chief, plans public forum Thursday

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold a public forum to hear residents' concerns about rising rents and shrinking homeownership opportunities following the government's real estate tax reform announcement. On Wednesday — the day before the forum — Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom for lunch to discuss housing supply and other pressing real estate issues, sources said.

The city will host a 90-minute "Citizens' Grand Forum for Real Estate Normalization" on Thursday at the main conference room on the third floor of Seoul City Hall. It is the first public participatory forum the city has organized since the government unveiled its "2026 Tax Reform Plan" on Monday. The city said residents have been raising concerns and inquiries about rising jeonse and monthly rents, increased tax burdens on owner-occupants and reduced opportunities to purchase homes following the tax overhaul.

About 50 participants will take part, including non-resident single homeowners, young people without homes, private rental business operators, experts and content creators. Attendees are expected to exchange views on how the tax reform will affect the jeonse and monthly rental market and homeownership opportunities.

The forum will cover four topics: the tax reform, real estate transactions, the jeonse and monthly rental market, and housing supply. Citizens and experts will discuss each topic freely over 60 minutes.

Kim Byeong-min, chairman of the G3 Seoul Planning Committee, will moderate the session. The city plans to state its position that expanding actual housing supply through redevelopment and reconstruction — rather than raising the tax burden — is the more effective way to ease pressure on residents and stabilize the housing market.

The forum will be livestreamed for 90 minutes on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's official YouTube channel, where viewers can submit questions through real-time comments and video connections. The city plans to separately release the full discussion — including residents' opinions raised at the forum and expert responses — after the event concludes.

"If the government's tax reform causes the jeonse and monthly rental market to contract, the burden will ultimately fall on ordinary people and young residents," Oh said. "Through this forum, I want to hear directly what citizens are actually worried about."

He added that "the fundamental solution to stabilizing the housing market is not taxes but sufficient housing supply," and said the city would accelerate policies that can meaningfully increase supply in Seoul, including through redevelopment and reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Oh met Kim for lunch on Wednesday to share views on housing supply and other real estate issues, sources said. While the central government and Seoul broadly agree on expanding supply, they have differed on the scale and approach of major development projects, making it a key question whether the two sides can find common ground at the meeting.

Among the core agenda items is a plan to use quasi-industrial zones in Seoul's southwestern districts — including Yeongdeungpo and Guro — to boost housing supply. Kim had previously identified quasi-industrial zones as candidate supply sites in central Seoul in June and indicated he would consult with Oh on related measures.

The city said it is already pursuing supply projects in quasi-industrial zones by raising the floor-area ratio cap for apartment buildings from 250 percent to up to 400 percent, and through district unit plans and urban renewal-type redevelopment schemes.

The scale of housing supply at the Yongsan International Business District is also a major point of discussion. The government intends to expand the original plan of about 6,000 units to 10,000 units, but Seoul has been cautious, saying international business functions and infrastructure capacity must be taken into account. The city has said it could consider up to 8,000 units if issues such as school provision are resolved.

The redevelopment of Sewun Zone 4, across from Jongmyo Shrine, has also been flagged as a key agenda item. The Cultural Heritage Administration has pushed back, arguing that high-rise buildings could affect the landscape around Jongmyo — a UNESCO World Heritage site — and that a World Heritage Impact Assessment must be completed before development permits are issued. Seoul maintains that the project site lies outside the World Heritage protection zone and that the revised height plan would not damage the Jongmyo vista, leaving the two sides at an impasse.

To expand supply through reconstruction and redevelopment, the city also plans to separately request that the government ease regulations on relocation loans and broaden floor-area ratio incentives depending on project conditions. Seoul has judged that if loans are blocked during the relocation process for urban renewal projects, project timelines will slow and instability in the rental market could temporarily worsen.

In addition, Seoul is expected to hand Kim a so-called "urban renewal white paper" at the meeting, sources said. The document is said to contain data on the net increase in housing units from renewal projects in the greater metropolitan area, as well as cases where supply timelines were delayed due to past cancellations of renewal zones and permit delays.