Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon sharpened his criticism of the government's housing policy in an interview with foreign media on the 22nd, saying the mortgage restrictions hit young people trying to buy their first home hardest. He also reaffirmed his opposition to using the site of Yongsan Park for apartment construction.
In the Reuters interview published that day, Oh said of the government's mortgage lending curbs: "Wealthy people with plenty of cash actually find it easier to buy a home, while young people who don't have cash on hand lose the chance to buy their first home altogether."
He pointed to the Lee Jae-myung administration's lending restrictions and tax increases as one cause of the housing shortage. Policies that reduce borrowing capacity have failed to curb housing demand and instead pushed up rents, he argued.
Reuters reported that Oh has been criticizing the government's financial and tax policies after President Lee said at a recent news conference that housing permits and construction starts had fallen to about half their usual levels, placing part of the blame for the supply shortfall on the Seoul city government.
Oh also restated his opposition to the current administration's plan to supply housing on part of the Yongsan Park site.
"Differences over Yongsan Park remain," he said. "Under no circumstances can I agree to using this land as an apartment site. Not one centimeter of the park land will be given over to apartment construction."
Oh added that while greenery is easy to see in Seoul, having green space that residents can enjoy in daily life is a separate matter. "The green space Seoul residents enjoy is only a quarter of what Londoners have," he said.
