All Candidates Call for Faster Redevelopment and Reconstruction, Citing "Shorter Procedures" and "Dispute Prevention" [June 3 Local Election]

No matter who wins the Seoul mayoral election in June, redevelopment and reconstruction are expected to pick up speed. That is because Jeong Won-oh of the Democratic Party of Korea, Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party (PPP), and Kim Jeong-cheol of the Reform Party (South Korea) (RP) all told Financial News on the 25th that they would help private redevelopment projects move forward quickly. Their approaches differed somewhat. Jeong and Oh focused on simplifying procedures, while Kim emphasized reducing legal disputes.In an interview with this paper on the 25th, Jeong referred to his flagship pledge, "Step-by-Step Development," and said he would cut the time needed for redevelopment projects to as little as three years, allowing redevelopment and reconstruction to be completed within 10 years. He explained, "If we push ahead with the master plan and district designation at the same time, handle the project implementation plan and management disposition plan through a single general meeting and approval process, and make the purchase cost for rental housing equal to 80% of the standard construction cost, we can shorten the timeline by up to three years."
He added, "In addition, we will transfer the authority to designate redevelopment zones with fewer than 500 households to district offices and dispatch professional managers directly under the mayor to all districts to reduce administrative bottlenecks and conflicts." He continued, "We will also send construction cost verification teams from SH Corporation and KREB to reduce delays caused by disputes and improve project feasibility."In an interview the same day, Oh highlighted that under his administration, the average project period for Seoul redevelopment work had already been reduced from 18 years to 12 years. He stressed, "Rapid Integrated Planning is a model that dramatically shortens project timelines by providing integrated support for conflict mediation and administrative procedures from the early stages of a project. It has reduced the average period from more than 18 years to an unprecedented 12 years." If re-elected, Oh said he would pursue institutional reforms to shorten redevelopment timelines further. He said, "Over the next four years, we will take things a step further and build a fast-track redevelopment system that connects the entire process from the early stages of a project to groundbreaking and move-in with greater speed. We have asked the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for several measures, and many are being reviewed positively." He added, "However, the restrictions on transferring membership rights and the issue of relocation loans, which have the biggest impact, remain unchanged. We will not give up and will strongly push the government."In the interview, Kim said that the redevelopment and reconstruction measures proposed by Jeong and Oh were both wrong. He argued that legal disputes, rather than procedures, are what hold back redevelopment and reconstruction. Kim said, "Both parties' approaches are wrong. They keep repeating that they will speed up approvals, but the real issue is the legal disputes that continue for years afterward." He pointed to lawsuits over forged consent forms, reaching the 75% consent threshold, electing association heads, and the fairness of contributions during the period between approval and the approval of the project implementation plan and management disposition plan. As solutions, he proposed preventing consent-rate disputes through blockchain and electronic signatures, resolving disputes over association heads by introducing a city-guaranteed public association head, verifying contributions through artificial intelligence prepared by the city, fully disclosing standard processing deadlines and actual progress at each stage of redevelopment projects, and handling compensation for original residents through a city-led team of legal, accounting, appraisal, and association experts. He said, "If I become mayor, I will immediately inspect all redevelopment and reconstruction sites managed by Seoul Metropolitan Government and present a resolution schedule."
The three candidates also delivered similar messages on real estate tax reform. They said the rights of single-home owners should be protected as much as possible. In response to recent controversy sparked by the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party of Korea signaling cuts to the long-term holding special deduction for Capital Gains Tax on single-home owners, all three said they would keep the current system in place.
Jeong said, "We must protect single-home owners who live in their homes for actual residence, not speculation, especially citizens such as retirees without income who cannot afford a higher tax burden." He repeated his pledge to offer a temporary property tax reduction for single-home owners without income. Oh said, "It is very important to be cautious about raising the tax burden even for single-home owners who live in their homes and are not involved in speculation." He promised to expand city-level tax support for young people, newlyweds, and end users. Kim argued, "Single-home owners should see their tax burden eased, including holding taxes, regardless of whether they live in the home or not." He said progressive taxation should apply only to multi-home purchases and high-priced homes.
uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter