Oh Se-hoon on Lee’s ‘multicultural’ social media post: “I’m troubled ... The issue to express concern about is rent and jeonse”

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized President Lee Jae-myung for continuing to comment on the matter after saying he would consider whether to abolish the preferential treatment system for multicultural families. “The issue the president should repeatedly be expressing concern about is the hardships surrounding jeonse and monthly rent, and how to address them,” he said.
After attending the forum “Preserving World Heritage and the Future of Cities: Finding a Path to Coexistence” at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building that day, Mayor Oh told reporters that “if [the president] had focused for four days in a row on concerns about the rent and jeonse issue and solutions to it, that would have been a move that won support from more people and reassured the public.”
Mayor Oh described the government’s real estate policy as “a side effect of the government’s fixation on owner-occupancy.”
Mayor Oh expressed concern, saying, “People in Seoul who rent or live in jeonse housing are enduring extreme hardship and anxiety. Those whose lease contracts are due to expire in about six months, or who are on the verge of moving, must be desperately hoping the government will come up with a solution amid unprecedented hardship.”
He also criticized President Lee’s social media remark about “enduring on the difficult road toward normalizing the asset market,” saying, “There is a strong likelihood that using this expression will come across as meaning that he is simply waiting for time to pass with things left as they are.”
Mayor Oh went on to stress, “Hoping that things will resolve themselves as time passes without any policy shift is the most inept policy approach and the one most deserving of condemnation. This is not something to gloss over with the phrase ‘enduring’ or avoid commenting on.”
Earlier, on October 31, President Lee shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) titled “Gangnam realtors’ candid assessment of the policy: ‘Thorough and strategic ... home prices look set to fall’” and remarked, “Currently enduring the difficult road toward normalizing the asset market.”
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