Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, delivers opening remarks at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Lee Sang-sub]
Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, delivers opening remarks at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Lee Sang-sub]

The ruling and opposition parties clashed Wednesday over real estate policy, particularly the pace of housing supply. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said the previous government and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon had worked to expand supply and stabilize prices, while Democratic Party acting leader and floor leader Han Byung-do fired back that it was the PPP's "duplicity" that was blocking residential stability in the National Assembly.

Appearing on the Maeil Business News YouTube channel Wednesday, Jang said the government and ruling party should be pursuing every available policy to expand supply while making separate efforts to stabilize prices. "Creating a jeonse and monthly rent crisis, driving up prices and then blaming the previous government is unconscionable," he said.

Jang said private-led redevelopment and reconstruction projects were the realistic path forward. "The practical approach is to change the system so that redevelopment and reconstruction projects can be expanded right away," he said. "Most housing supply is delivered by the private sector. The government is blocking all of that while talking about expanding public-led supply — but people don't want to be told to live just anywhere."

He added that it was unclear whether the current government's housing supply plans would even be on track by 2030, saying the administration was pushing a policy direction that mismatches what people actually need. He linked that approach to Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee's earlier proposal for a "bus house" — a concept modeled on the Netherlands' boat houses — which drew widespread criticism before Hwang apologized.

The Democratic Party, for its part, pointed to a slowdown in housing supply under the previous administration and during Mayor Oh's tenure at Seoul City Hall as the root cause of the current shortage.

At a floor strategy meeting Wednesday, Han said Oh had "made a fool of 10 million Seoul residents with half-baked campaign pledges" and was now claiming he would build 310,000 units across 253 redevelopment projects by breaking ground by 2031. "Given that the average project timeline exceeds 10 years and that countless conflicts and obstacles arise between permitting and ground-breaking, one cannot help but ask whether this is a realistic claim," Han said.

Han said follow-up legislation to the government's Sept. 7 housing package — including the Housing Act, the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Act, the Special Act on Public Housing and the Aging Public Buildings Act — had been stalled for nearly a year by PPP obstruction. "If the People Power Party has even a minimum of conscience, I urge them to hold a plenary session Thursday and cooperate in passing the housing supply bills," he said.

Han also said the Democratic Party planned to hold the first meeting of its housing market stabilization TF on Wednesday to discuss the full range of market stabilization measures with the government. "The ruling party and government should listen to the voices of the public, local governments and the industry, rationalize outdated regulations as much as possible, improve business conditions and work to ensure that supply measures — including redevelopment projects — can proceed smoothly," he said.


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