Oh Se-hoon: "President Lee, Is the Rise in Home Prices My Fault? ... Prices Rose Around the Time You Took Office"

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized President Lee Jae Myung on the 18th, saying he was "trapped in a mistaken conviction and refusing to face reality" after Lee attributed the decline in housing permits and construction starts in Seoul to a contraction in supply since 2022.
Oh said through social media that "the fact remains that it was Mayor Park Won-soon who canceled all redevelopment and reconstruction projects across Seoul and wiped out the entire process," making the criticism.
Earlier that day, President Lee said at a press conference held at the Yeongbingwan State Guest House, "After the Yoon Suk Yeol administration came to power in 2022, the number of permits and construction starts was cut in half starting from the year Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected," adding, "There seemed to be various reasons, but some people did use the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon as an excuse."
Oh retorted, "Had you merely looked closely at the redevelopment and reconstruction progress report submitted to the president by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it would have been difficult for you to make remarks like those today," adding, "I cannot help but ask whether you did not look through the report, or whether you saw it but picked out only what you wanted to believe."
He also emphasized that the government was responsible for the recent rise in Seoul home prices.
Oh said, "Anyone can tell simply by checking the data that Seoul home prices were settling into a downward trend after I took office as mayor for my eighth popularly elected term, but turned upward around the time President Lee Jae Myung took office," adding, "The fact is that the point when home prices, which had returned to stability after the Land Transaction Permit System was redesignated, began to jump also coincided with the time the president took office." He continued, "The president has refused to acknowledge these facts to the end and repeats at every opportunity that construction starts declined after I took office as mayor of Seoul."
Oh especially stressed, "I hope you will at least properly understand the 'real world' unfolding on the ground now," adding, "Seoul home prices are continuing their steepest climb for the longest period under any government in history, to the point that there is not even time to debate who is responsible for the rise."
Regarding some home prices showing a downward trend, particularly in the Gangnam area, Oh said, "Unfortunately, the president appears to be relying only on some data," adding, "He seems to believe that the 'catch-up gains' in Seoul's outer areas are also merely a temporary phenomenon."
He stressed, "The housing ladder for newlyweds and young people in Seoul is now on the verge of completely collapsing," adding, "They cannot even afford to consider buying a home because they cannot get loans, and as jeonse rentals are becoming increasingly scarce, they are giving up on life in Seoul."
He added, "Pushing young people out of Seoul and cutting off the middle class's hope of owning a home cannot be called balanced development," and urged, "Please properly see the reality of young people frustrated because they cannot find homes and newlywed couples giving up on homeownership at the barriers to obtaining loans."
[email protected] Jeon Min-kyung Reporter