The People Power Party caucus of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (floor leader Kim Gil-young) directly rebuffed Democratic Party of Korea claims surrounding Seoul redevelopment projects and housing supply, calling for an accurate accounting of past zone cancellations and policy responsibility.
Choi Jong-bu, spokesperson for the PPP caucus on the Seoul Metropolitan Council, issued a statement Friday saying that remarks made at the Democratic Party's real estate policy response forum on Thursday "come closer to minimizing inconvenient facts and diluting the impact of past policies than to properly explaining the process and responsibility behind the contraction of Seoul's housing supply over the past decade."
Choi said the stagnation of New Town and redevelopment projects should not be attributed to any single policy. He particularly noted that the real estate downturn following the global financial crisis and the resulting deterioration in project viability had a major impact on redevelopment efforts at the time.
While conflicts among residents and problems in the project implementation process also played a role, he said the city administration — which had overseen Seoul's governance for an extended period — should have systematically managed areas with poor project viability and laid the groundwork for alternative housing supply within the city.
Choi also rebuffed the Democratic Party's characterization of redevelopment zone cancellations as "voluntary dissolution by residents." He pointed to the introduction of "ex officio cancellation" authority — which allowed the mayor to halt projects unilaterally — through an amendment to the city's redevelopment ordinance during the tenure of former Mayor Park Won-soon.
Citing the case of Sajik District 2, he said the zone was cancelled despite residents' will to proceed with the project, and that the matter subsequently went before the Supreme Court.
Choi criticized the Democratic Party, saying it was wrong "to strangle redevelopment projects through administrative power, induce residents to give up, and then claim it was their voluntary choice."
'Multiple factors behind Seoul's housing supply contraction must be examined'
Choi also said the cancellations of redevelopment zones under Mayor Oh Se-hoon and former Mayor Park should not be simplistically compared. According to Choi, the 31 sites cancelled during Oh's tenure in 2011 were "pre-designated redevelopment candidate zones" — areas not yet formally designated where projects had been stalled for years.
By contrast, the PPP said the 389 zones cancelled under Park were formally designated redevelopment districts where projects were already underway.
"Clearing 31 undesignated candidate sites and cancelling 389 already-designated urban housing supply zones are not comparable," Choi said, arguing that the two policies differed fundamentally in scale and character.
The PPP caucus assessed that the large-scale cancellation of redevelopment zones had ultimately weakened the foundation for urban housing supply over the long term. It said the burden from reduced housing opportunities and the erosion of the project base was now falling on residents.
"Covering up the essence of the failure and cherry-picking numbers will not erase the consequences of past policies," Choi said. "The Democratic Party should stop the political dispute over facts and move toward a responsible assessment of its past policies."
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
