Oh Se-hoon wins fifth term as Seoul mayor, raising hopes for Han River belt redevelopment

Seoul voters back private-led housing supply over public programs

Han River belt reconstruction, redevelopment projects expected to gain momentum

City fund support for urban renewal sites to expand

People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon appeals for support at a final campaign rally at Sinchon Station in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party has won a fifth term as Seoul mayor, fueling expectations that privately led urban renewal projects will gain new momentum. His victory in a closely contested race is widely read as a mandate for housing supply, with voters signaling that real estate sentiment — centered on new homes — translated directly into ballots. Oh had pledged to revamp his signature "Rapid Integrated Planning" initiative into version 2.0, accelerating ground-breaking timelines and strengthening project viability.

Among his campaign pledges for the June 3 local elections, Oh committed to breaking ground on 310,000 units by 2031 and fast-tracking early construction of 85,000 units in core strategic renewal zones within three years of taking office. With his re-election securing fresh momentum for the initiative, high-density and high-rise redevelopment sites are expected to benefit — particularly those along the Han River. According to a Seoul Metropolitan Government announcement in February, more than 40 of the 85 sites eligible for early ground-breaking, accounting for roughly 40,000 units, are concentrated in the three Gangnam districts and key Han River belt areas.

The districts that delivered the strongest support for Oh were the three Gangnam districts — Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa-gu — along with the 10 Han River belt districts, including Yongsan, Dongjak, Gwangjin, Yeongdeungpo-gu and Gangdong.

Seoul's real estate policy is also expected to focus on deregulation aimed at improving project viability. Oh has consistently held that apartments should be supplied where residents actually want them.

In line with that approach, a "fast-track integration" pathway — allowing projects to skip the preparatory committee stage and move directly to association formation — is set to be introduced, and fiscal support from local government funds, including the Housing Promotion Fund, is expected to expand. To handle the large-scale relocation demand that comes with active urban renewal, the city plans to secure 100,000 dedicated units through a real estate investment trust structure.

For lower-viability areas in northern Seoul, Oh plans to activate six incentives: zoning upgrades in growth-potential zones, expansion of the pre-negotiation system, expansion of the Gangbuk-style transit-oriented development program, special provisions for urban mixed-use development (conditional floor-area ratio of up to 1,300 percent), introduction of a viability adjustment coefficient, and abolition of height restrictions in altitude-control districts — all aimed at drawing in private-sector participation.

On the residential welfare side, the city plans to supply 123,000 public rental units, 106,000 long-term jeonse units and 74,000 units under the "Dream Home" program for young adults and newlywed couples. An additional 8,000 units over four years will be offered under the "My Home Now" scheme, which channels development profits back to buyers through below-market public pre-sale prices funded by a tentatively named Youth Asset-Building Fund.

People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon visits a long-term jeonse housing construction site in the transit-oriented development zone near Singil Station in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

Industry observers welcomed Oh's victory as a sign that Seoul's redevelopment and reconstruction policies will maintain consistency. "The continuation of Seoul's stance of promoting urban renewal can help stabilize the market," said Yoon Ji-hae, head of the research lab at Real Estate 114. "If supply policy changes direction midway, it can cause delays and side effects that slow everything down."

Park Hap-su, an adjunct professor at Konkuk University's Graduate School of Real Estate, said the city would likely focus on areas where supply expansion would have the greatest impact — including Mokdong, where reconstruction is expected to add a net 20,000 households. "Given Seoul's severe shortage of housing supply, the city will also try to broaden the supply base by pushing ahead with transit-oriented development," he added.

People Power Party Seoul mayoral candidate Oh Se-hoon visits a "non-apartment Mirinaezip" site in Munjeong-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, last year during his tenure as mayor. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

How Oh navigates challenges requiring cooperation from the National Assembly and the central government remains an open question. The Democratic Party of Korea swept a large number of metropolitan and local government seats, reshaping the political landscape into one where the opposition dominates at the local level. Structural obstacles Seoul City cannot resolve on its own — including relocation loan restrictions that some project sites have flagged, difficulties in transferring association member status, and calls to abolish the reconstruction excess profit recapture regime — will require legislative action. Tensions between the city and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport over major project sites could also resurface, as they did after the Sept. 7 housing supply measures last year, when the two sides clashed over the Yongsan International Business District.

"On matters tied to laws and financial regulations — such as amendments to the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act or lending restrictions — the government, the National Assembly and the ruling party carry significant influence," said Ham Young-jin, head of the real estate research lab at Woori Bank. "Many sites have already reached the association approval stage, and once they enter the relocation phase, these issues become extremely sensitive. Active efforts to secure funding and solutions will be essential."

Kwon Dae-joong, an endowed chair professor in the Department of Economics and Real Estate at Hansung University, said the housing supply the government is pursuing is concentrated in third-generation new towns and land development zones outside Seoul, making it difficult to direct benefits to the city alone. "Oh will need to take an active approach to drawing alternatives out of the central government," he said.

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