Rival lawmakers on the Seoul Metropolitan Council have opened a competition over policies for ordinary citizens, championing disability rights and a practical approach to housing.
The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party caucus leaders of the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council held news conferences and rallies on the 24th and 25th, respectively, under the themes of a "social grand compromise for guaranteeing disability rights" and "condemning flawed housing policy and practicing practical politics."
The People Power Party's 38 lawmakers, led by floor leader Kim Gil-young, held a rally in front of the council's main building at 1:30 p.m. on the 25th to condemn what they called the government's unilateral housing policy and to defend citizens' livelihoods.
Reading out the resolution, Kim said, "With soaring housing costs, young people and newlyweds are giving up on their future, and older adults are being pushed out of the places where they have built their lives." He urged the government to withdraw its plan to supply housing at Yongsan Park, calling it "an act that sacrifices the last large green space left in the heart of Seoul to a stopgap real estate measure."
The party also sharply criticized the Aug. 13 housing measures, which were announced without prior consultation with the Seoul city government, holding placards reading "The market is the answer" and calling them "an arrogant, half-baked measure that seeks to control the market."
With the agreement of all 38 of its lawmakers, the party submitted a package of "core agenda items for Seoul's leap to a G3 city" as the first and second bills of the 12th council, emphasizing its identity as a policy party.
It designated a "resolution urging expanded housing supply in Seoul and the normalization of real estate policy" and a "resolution urging the establishment of a future transit network and the guarantee of citizens' transportation rights" as its first and second bills, respectively, advocating practical politics to improve citizens' lives and Seoul's competitiveness.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea's 80 lawmakers, led by floor leader Lee Sang-hoon, held a news conference at 11:30 a.m. on the 24th in the first conference hall of the members' building and announced three resolutions on a "social grand compromise for guaranteeing disability rights."
At the news conference, the party explained its first and second party-line ordinance bills, which center on guaranteeing mobility rights for people with disabilities and restoring rights-based public jobs. It said the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination of Korea (SADD) had agreed to halt the "morning commute subway protests" it began on Dec. 3, 2021.
Park Kyoung-seok, co-representative of SADD, said, "Trusting the political responsibility of the Democratic Party of Korea on the Seoul Metropolitan Council, we have decided to stop our 73rd morning-commute subway boarding protest," and urged Mayor Oh Se-hoon to allocate a budget, saying, "Now is the time for politics and administration to respond with a budget."
Floor leader Lee said, "Today is a meaningful day that showed the essential role politics should play, moving beyond wasteful confrontation toward dialogue and compromise." He added, "Since SADD has halted its protest in a spirit of magnanimity, we strongly urge Mayor Oh Se-hoon to make a forward-looking decision on budget allocation."
The most notable change since the launch of the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council is the strengthened authority of the floor leaders of both the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party, and the revival of organized party politics.
The two days of news conferences by lawmakers from both parties marked the start of full-fledged legislative activity by the 12th council and were seen as a positive sign that council politics will not stand by amid social conflict but will lead to the development of practical policies.
