At the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul Metropolitan Chapter's "Democratic Roots Committee Political Academy" event held at the National Assembly on the 17th, figures preparing to run for Seoul mayor in the June 3 local elections next year gathered in one place. Policy visions from candidates, from a "Seoul-style basic society" to "gradual strengthening of holding taxes" and a "20 trillion won-scale Gangbuk project," followed one after another. Criticism aimed at People Power Party Mayor Oh Se-hoon also poured out.
The official theme of the day's political academy lecture was "Suggestions on major pending issues of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and future visions," but in substance it strongly served as a debut stage for Democratic Party Seoul mayoral hopefuls. Lawmakers Jeon Hyun-hee, Seo Young-kyo, Park Hong-keun, Park Ju-min, and Kim Young-bae, along with former floor leader Hong Ik-pyo, who are cited as a pool of potential candidates for Seoul mayor, were listed as speakers. In the National Assembly's grand conference hall packed with members of the Democratic Roots Committee and people from the Honam hometown association, they each presented competing plans to "retake Seoul" in next year's local elections.
The keywords for former floor leader Hong Ik-pyo, who took the stage as the first vision presenter, were "low-cost city" and "Seoul-style basic society." Hong said, "President Lee Jae-myung talked about a basic society, and starting in Seoul, we will begin a basic society in education, housing, transportation, culture, welfare, environment, and jobs, and make it a model for Korea." To that end, he pledged "free transit connecting subways and buses" to guarantee mobility rights for seniors and a "second circular subway," among others. Hong added, "If I become mayor of Seoul, I am preparing an investment plan of about 20 trillion won for the Gangbuk area."
Next to take the microphone, lawmaker Park Hong-keun criticized the current Seoul administration as "welfare with only the packaging changed, citizens pushed to the back," and "a Seoul dressed up with debt—who will be responsible for tomorrow?" He then put forward a vision of "a Seoul for everyone where citizens are the owners." Park cited "instability, imbalance, and inequality" as three tasks Seoul must solve. In particular, he stressed that "bold changes in land use" and the "gradual strengthening of holding taxes" are needed in relation to housing supply.
Park said, "Housing supply should be led by the public sector. We should swiftly change the use of idle sites so that many dwellings can be supplied publicly," adding, "It is time to boldly convert greenbelts as well. Unless the public supports supply while lifting unnecessary greenbelts such as damaged areas, we cannot proceed." He continued, "We need to spur private redevelopment and reconstruction," and said, "By creating separate funding and boldly supporting the construction of public infrastructure needed for dwelling development outside the Gangbuk area, we can speed things up."
He also explained, "Because the holding tax issue is highly sensitive with regard to home prices, I agree that we should approach it cautiously ahead of next year's mayoral election," but added, "The effective tax rate is very low. Going forward, this is an area we cannot avoid."
Lawmaker Kim Young-bae said, "This local election is a decisive turning point for whether the Lee Jae-myung administration can actually exercise the people's mandate," and emphasized, "I will be a working mayor, not a mayor who is good at talking." He then presented policy visions such as a Climate Tech city and a half-cost living city.
The speakers also focused on "hitting Oh Se-hoon." Lawmaker Park Ju-min said, "Mayor Oh Se-hoon is not running a city administration for citizens, but is focused only on enlarging his own political future." As an example, he pointed out that while the annual budget for the Yangjae AI Hub run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government is 4 billion won, 200 billion won is being spent on the "Hangang Bus" project and 1.2 trillion won on the "Seoul Ring" project to be built in Mapo District, Seoul.
Park said, "Even if the money Mayor Oh intends to spend were used properly, we could undertake a considerable number of projects," and pledged to build AI infrastructure in line with the government's AI and digital transition.
Lawmaker Seo Young-kyo took aim at the recent "Hangang Bus collision accident." Seo said, "They say the Hangang Bus had 16 accidents over eight months. A boat hit the concrete on the bottom of the Han River. A gas pipeline was buried under the concrete," and added, "We need to check whether the gas pipeline is safe, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government hid this data." She went on to say, "We will work harder and do our best to make a better Republic of Korea and a better Seoul."