Party urges review of Yongsan Park housing plan and Aug. 13 measures, citing lack of field input; submits housing supply and transit resolutions as 12th council's first two agenda items; calls on Democratic Party for cross-party cooperation
The People Power Party caucus of the Seoul Metropolitan Council sharply criticized the government's housing policy Tuesday, putting housing supply expansion and a next-generation urban transit network at the top of its agenda for the 12th council term. The group called on the government to scrap its plan to build housing in Yongsan Park and to revisit the Aug. 13 housing measures, while urging the Democratic Party of Korea to cooperate across party lines on livelihood issues.
PPP lawmakers gathered Tuesday in front of the main council building for a rally denouncing the government's housing policy and pledging pragmatic politics. They presented residential stability and transportation infrastructure expansion as the central priorities of the 12th council term.
In a resolution adopted at the rally, the PPP said "housing policy is about reality, not ideology," adding that "policies that ignore the voices of citizens and the market will ultimately return as suffering for those citizens."
On the plan to use Yongsan Park land for housing, the party said large-scale green space in the city center should not be converted into a housing site without sufficient social consensus. It argued that short-term supply gains should not come at the cost of spaces future generations deserve to share.
The party also said the Aug. 13 housing measures were announced without adequate prior consultation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government or sufficient input from communities on the ground.
The PPP said the burden on young people, newlyweds and other residents was growing as the supply of jeonse and monthly-rent units shrank and housing costs rose. It argued that regulation-heavy measures should give way to meaningful housing supply expansion and the normalization of urban redevelopment projects.
With the backing of all 38 of its council members, the PPP submitted two resolutions under the banner of "core agenda items for Seoul's leap to G3 status" as the first and second items of business for the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council.
The first resolution calls for expanded housing supply and the normalization of Seoul's real estate policy, focusing on increasing housing stock and reviving redevelopment projects. The second urges construction of a next-generation urban transit network and the guarantee of citizens' right to mobility, centering on transportation infrastructure innovation and expanded access to transit.
PPP floor leader Kim Gil-young said the power of council work "comes not from numbers but from the trust of citizens," pledging to put "policy over political strife, results over slogans, and livelihoods over ideology."
The PPP also called on the Democratic Party to govern cooperatively, invoking the spirit of facing hardship together as fellow passengers on the same vessel. It urged both parties to work jointly on passing the first and second agenda items.
Kim and fellow PPP lawmakers said at the press conference that "what is needed is not opposition for opposition's sake, but responsible checks that offer alternatives," and that "the ruling and opposition parties must cooperate toward the same destination — stability in people's lives and the happiness of citizens."
The PPP said it intends to carry its pragmatic approach through the 12th council term, starting with housing supply and transit expansion and continuing to offer policy alternatives on issues that directly affect residents' daily lives.
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
