The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has strongly criticized a government and ruling-party proposal to transfer approval authority for redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 units or fewer to heads of local district governments, calling it an effort to "strip the Seoul mayor of authority."
Choi Bo-yoon, the PPP's chief spokesperson, said in a statement on the 23rd that "a government that had been bypassing Seoul and unilaterally dictating housing supply policy has wielded force instead of reflecting on itself." Choi added that "this time, it is moving to hand over the Seoul mayor's approval authority itself to district chiefs."
At a high-level party-government meeting that day, the government and the ruling party decided to pursue a plan to transfer approval authority for small-scale redevelopment and reconstruction projects of 500 units or fewer to district chiefs and other heads of basic local governments. The stated aim is to streamline procedures for housing supply projects and support faster project implementation at the local level.
The PPP argued, however, that such a plan could result in a weakening of the Seoul mayor's authority. The chief spokesperson said, "This is not about excluding the city from consultations but about eliminating the consultation process altogether," adding that "this is not administrative reform but effectively a stripping of the Seoul mayor's authority."
The party also argued that political intent lay behind the move, citing the fact that Democratic Party members hold a majority among the heads of Seoul's 25 autonomous districts. "This is about handing the reins to autonomous districts where district chiefs on their own side make up the majority," the chief spokesperson said. "This is not about promoting housing supply but about planting hands and feet that will move as the government wishes."
The PPP also criticized the party-government decision that day to revise the property tax framework in a direction that would ease the comprehensive real estate tax burden on owners of a single non-resident home. "The comprehensive real estate tax reform plan announced on August 3 buckled and wavered in less than 20 days," the party said. "Would the public trust a policy that could be overturned each time it is announced?"
Choi Soo-jin, the PPP's chief floor spokesperson, also took a jab at the move, saying, "With the backlash in public opinion following the election of new party leader Kim Min-seok, they hastily changed their position." Choi added, "If policy is pushed forward as carelessly as flipping over a hand, it is only the public who will shed tears of blood."
