Oh Se-hoon: Redevelopment and reconstruction are the 'master key' to supply... The Lee Jae Myung administration should not stand in the way

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the Lee Jae Myung administration, saying, "The attitude of the Lee Jae Myung administration is the biggest risk to housing supply," and added, "It is regrettable that the old view, which still sees redevelopment and reconstruction through an ideological lens and as symbols of speculation, remains in the Lee Jae Myung administration."
On the 20th, Oh said on social networking service that "Seoul is no longer a city with empty land left" and added, "In the end, housing supply in Seoul depends on how efficiently we reorganize the existing downtown area. Redevelopment and reconstruction are key supply measures and essential tasks."
Earlier, on the 19th, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom said that "redevelopment and reconstruction are not a universal key." He also stated that "in the short term, they actually reduce supply," and explained that "we need to get through a period of severe demand-supply mismatch, but because supply would be reduced, the decision must be made carefully." He noted that redevelopment and reconstruction usually take about five years, while existing residents can lose their homes immediately once construction begins.
Oh said, "The real estate market cannot be solved with a prescription that tries to suppress it with one regulation, one loan rule, or one tax," and criticized the approach of trying to manage prices without confidence in supply, saying it has already failed countless times.
He went on to emphasize that "private redevelopment projects already moving forward with residents' consent are different," adding, "What is needed now is not a new system, but more momentum for the engine that is already running. Removing unnecessary regulations and speeding things up is the fastest and most efficient path to supply."
Oh pointed out that "the government's attitude of ignoring redevelopment and reconstruction because it is trapped in dogma is the biggest risk destabilizing the market," and asked, "Does it really not realize that such short-sightedness will instead send a warning signal to the market that there will be no downtown apartment supply and fuel price instability?"
He also said, "What is needed now is not a public-led showpiece policy, but rather removing unnecessary regulations and adding momentum to the private redevelopment engine that is already operating on the ground," and stated that "redevelopment and reconstruction are indeed the 'master key' to supplying high-quality downtown housing."
However, he added, "There is one premise: that is true only if the government does not interfere with outdated ideology and layers of regulations."

[email protected] Lee Chang-hoon Reporter