Seoul mayor commits to housing plan aiming for 310,000 units by 2031

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Thursday that the city government plans to press ahead with its supply plan for the housing market, noting that construction has already begun for 15,000 units this year.

The municipality plans to break ground on 310,000 units by 2031 through redevelopment and reconstruction projects amid recent supply shortages that have contributed to sharp price hikes.

“Under the principle that sufficient and continued supply is the starting point of reducing housing concerns, we have sped up improvement projects through rapid integrated planning,” Oh said during a parliamentary audit of the city government.

“Going forward, we will continue to ease on-site difficulties and unfair regulations so that housing can be supplied continuously without stopping.”

He also pledged to actively respond to shortages in the rental housing market by broadening the foundation for private supply.

Later in the session, Oh reiterated his opposition to the central government’s proposal to use parts of Yongsan Park in central Seoul for housing development.

Oh argued that the government’s plan to develop parts of the park would violate a special law that prohibits changing the use of the park’s main site for other purposes.

He added that a survey conducted by the city showed that nearly half of Seoul residents strongly opposed developing the park.

Yongsan Park, mostly located on land returned from a former U.S. military garrison, spans about 3 million square meters (741 acres), equivalent to roughly 420 football pitches.

Oh noted that even if development were to proceed, it would be difficult to break ground during President Lee Jae Myung’s five-year term due to contaminated soil, which would take up to seven years to purify.

Yonhap