Politics · South Korea · 1 hr ago
Seoul Mayor Urges Government to Correct Housing Policy
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon urged the government and ruling party to change course on housing policy.
He made the call on Oct.
18, referring to a Seoul city report published two days earlier that reviews 20 years of housing policy.
Oh said 389 redevelopment zones were canceled under former Mayor Park Won-soon, wiping out the opportunity to build 430,000 homes.
He argued that the cancellations helped create a shortage of homes that should have been built by now.
The government and ruling party have blamed the current supply problem on the serving mayor, according to Oh, who accused them of avoiding responsibility.
He urged lawmakers to read the report and called for policy changes, but the story gives no government response or next steps.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon urged the South Korean government and ruling party to admit failure and correct their housing policy.
He made the call on October 18 while discussing a Seoul city report reviewing two decades of housing-supply policy.
Oh said 389 redevelopment zones were removed during former mayor Park Won-soon’s tenure, eliminating opportunities to supply 430,000 homes.
He said the decisions contributed to the current housing supply shortage and criticized the government for blaming Seoul’s incumbent mayor.
The city released its housing-policy report on October 16.
- Who
- Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon urged the government and ruling party to change course.
- What
- He called on them to acknowledge housing-policy failures. He cited a Seoul report on two decades of housing policy.
- When
- October 18, 2026.
- Where
- Seoul, South Korea.
- Why
- Oh said past redevelopment-zone cancellations removed opportunities to supply homes and that the government was not addressing the resulting supply shortage.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon
South Korean government and Democratic Party
Responsibility for the housing supply shortage
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon
Oh said past housing decisions, including cancellations of redevelopment zones under former mayor Park Won-soon, contributed to the shortage.
South Korean government and Democratic Party
Oh said the president and Democratic Party blamed the current shortage on Seoul’s incumbent mayor; the article does not include their response.
Policy direction
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon
Oh urged the government and ruling party to admit failure and correct their policy.
South Korean government and Democratic Party
The government’s own position on policy direction is not stated in the article.
Seoul released its report evaluating and reflecting on 20 years of housing-supply policy.
Oh Se-hoon called on the government and ruling party to acknowledge failure and correct housing policy.
- Redevelopment zones removed
- 389 during former mayor Park Won-soon’s tenure
- Housing opportunities cited
- 430,000 homes
- Zones substantially advanced before cancellation
- 159, or 41% of those removed
- Report release date
- October 16, 2026
1 source
What people are saying
The government and ruling party should now admit failure and correct the direction of their policy.
The report card is so dismal that it is painful even to open it.
The wrong decisions made 15 years ago have now returned as the deletion of countless homes that should have been supplied by now.
A policy without reflection repeats failure, and the cost always falls on the people.