Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 25th criticized a push by the government and the ruling party to transfer authority over redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 units or fewer to district offices, calling it "dangerous armchair administration." Oh also renewed his proposal to use the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center site instead of Yongsan Park for housing supply. Oh said a feasibility study has already been completed and that the site could accommodate up to 13,000 homes.
Speaking after attending the 10th Korea Future Innovation Forum seminar, hosted by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Oh said Seoul's urban planning authority "must involve decisions that fully account, in three dimensions, for the side effects that arise under a metropolitan-wide effort." He added that "an impromptu, campaign-style proposal was suddenly announced from political circles without any consideration of its pros and cons."
Oh said redevelopment projects proceed through nine steps, from district designation and union establishment to review procedures and groundbreaking, of which only district designation review and integrated review fall to the Seoul city government while the rest are handled by district heads anyway. "Claiming that the process will move faster if the city delegates procedures to district heads, while misleading a public that is not well aware of these facts, is detached from reality," he said. He noted that after he raised the point at a Cabinet meeting, the president told the prime minister to discuss the matter thoroughly with the Seoul mayor. "Watching the prime minister bypass the Seoul mayor, gather the district heads and take their suggestions on the spot to flesh out the plan, I thought this is truly a government with problems," he said. He added that the expected side effects are clear. "Seoul is a single living zone, so if you make the districts compete with one another, how will the gaps between districts be overcome?" he said, calling it "a truly deplorable way for the government to behave."
Presenting the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center site as an alternative to the government's plan to use Yongsan Park for housing supply, Oh said the site has greater capacity and a better residential environment, including transportation, than Yongsan Park, and that it is not a hastily prepared alternative. "If the government helps, it can be built quickly. I hope the approach toward Yongsan Park is withdrawn and this alternative is discussed in depth," he said. He added that he hopes to give the matter significant weight when he meets Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kim Yun-deok tomorrow, so that the government's rushed policy approach of touching Yongsan Park is withdrawn and the alternative is discussed in depth.
