Seoul mayoral candidates trade blame over housing and rents

Seoul mayoral candidates Jung Won-oh of the Democratic Party and Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party greet each other at the opening of the 26th Women’s Marathon on May 2 at World Cup Park in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Photo=Yonhap]

Jung Won-oh, the Democratic Party’s candidate for Seoul mayor, and Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party traded barbs May 2 over the city’s housing market. With the June 3 local elections a month away, the two sides are intensifying their fight over who is responsible for Seoul’s housing and rental strains.

Speaking at a party rally at Seodaemun Cultural and Sports Center, Jung criticized Oh for what he called silence when President Yoon Suk Yeol was “ruining the country,” while now attacking President Lee Jae-myung. “He should have said something, even a word, when President Yoon Suk Yeol was ruining the country,” Jung said.

Jung also pushed back on Oh’s recent claims that young people are facing “rent hell” and “real estate hell” because of the current government. “Wasn’t the Seoul mayor you?” Jung said, arguing that Oh failed over five years to increase housing supply and manage measures for monthly rent and jeonse leases, and is now blaming the government for the difficulties.

Oh, in turn, warned that Seoul real estate would become “hell” if Jung is elected.

Oh said soaring home prices and rising rents stem from what he called a supply strategy created by “the dream team” of Moon Jae-in and Park Won-soon. Oh said that when he left office as mayor in 2011, he had designated more than 400 areas for redevelopment and reconstruction that could have supplied 420,000 homes, but that Mayor Park “canceled them all.” Oh said the resulting lack of new supply is now being pinned on him. “That’s turning the tables,” he said.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Park Ja Yeon naturepark127@ajunews.com