“Oh se-hoon purposefully delayed hosing supply”: Blue House believes “political conspiracy ” is behind the opposition to Yongsan housing development project

The Blue House is reportedly of the view that Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who has reacted negatively to the government’s policy of expanding housing supply, is “deliberately trying to slow the pace of supply in order to gain political advantage.” With the Blue House settling on this assessment, the government and ruling party are increasingly likely to push ahead with housing-supply measures, including the partial use of Yongsan Park, rather than devote further effort to persuading Oh or coordinating with the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The Blue House reportedly reached this conclusion on the 19th after reviewing remarks Oh made at a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Lee Jae-myung the previous day. A senior ruling-camp official told the Hankook Ilbo, “Mayor Oh attended yesterday’s Cabinet meeting and cited the Russia-Ukraine war and former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who died six years ago, as reasons for Seoul’s housing-supply cliff.” The official continued, “For someone who has served as mayor of Seoul since 2021, this is not only an irresponsible attitude toward the causes of the supply shortage, but something we regard as a kind of political maneuver.” Oh’s remark that former Mayor Park’s policies restricting redevelopment and reconstruction were responsible for Seoul’s housing shortage came while President Lee was questioning him about the causes of the city’s housing-supply shortfall.
The official said, “Continued rises in housing prices are by no means necessarily bad for the conservative opposition, so it appears that leaving the supply shortage unresolved may be politically advantageous to them. This looks like behavior driven by political self-interest.” The official added, “Housing supply is an issue that should be approached on a bipartisan basis, yet it is being treated as a matter of partisan interest.”
As further evidence that Oh was trying to obstruct the government’s effort to expand supply, the official pointed to what they described as inconsistencies in his arguments. “When President Lee asked him, in connection with his opposition to developing Yongsan Park, ‘Then why did you allow the Seoripul district in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to be released from greenbelt restrictions?’ Mayor Oh replied, ‘Because young people prefer the area,’” the official said. “By the same logic, Yongsan is also an area favored by young people, so opposing development there is inconsistent.”
The official continued, “When President Lee asked who actually holds the authority to approve projects intended to increase housing supply, Mayor Oh answered, ‘The district offices do.’ That, too, is inconsistent with his claim that former Mayor Park was responsible.”
With the Blue House having concluded that Oh’s opposition is motivated by a “political conspiracy,” the government is now more likely to accelerate plans such as the development of Yongsan Park. Development of the Yongsan site and further releases of greenbelt land can, in certain cases, be pursued through the authority of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport without the consent of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
This is also expected to give added momentum to the Democratic Party’s proposed amendment to the Special Act on Yongsan Park. The amendment would broaden the permitted uses of land currently designated for parks and green space so that portions of the Yongsan Park site could be used for housing development.