Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor, said he would bring a United Nations artificial intelligence (AI) hub to the Yongsan International Business District. The camp of Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, criticized the idea, taking issue with Chong's past comment about "supplying 10,000 units in Yongsan," and said it would "reduce Seoul to a chicken-coop apartment cluster and an overcrowded bedroom town."
On the 8th in the morning, Chong held a press conference at the Yongsan International Business District in Seoul. There, Chong said, "We will develop the Yongsan area into a hub for five industries: AI, Robotics, bio, K-defense, and digital finance."
He proposed designating a specialized small and strong R&D zone, with corporate tax cuts and special exemptions for visas and regulations, to gather AI and Blockchain field corporations and research institutes in Yongsan. On Yongsan development, he also unveiled a plan to proceed with the project through a 99-year long-term lease instead of selling land.
Chong said, "The Yongsan train maintenance depot site should have been land where talent from across the country and global economic vitality meet to constantly create new knowledge and jobs, but it was left idle for 15 years," and pointedly asked, "Why did Oh Se-hoon leave it like this while serving four terms as Seoul mayor?"
As news of Chong's visit to Yongsan spread, Oh's camp took issue with Chong's past remark about supplying 10,000 households in Yongsan. In a Facebook post the same day, Oh criticized the visit, saying, "Chong's visit, which brutally undermined Yongsan's vision and competitiveness, is like pouring oil on the anger of Yongsan residents."
What Oh took issue with was a remark in March in which Chong said, regarding the appropriate supply of dwellings in the Yongsan International Business District, "Whether it is 8,000 households or 10,000 households, the number itself is not very important. Supplying 10,000 households is also possible."
Oh said, "The optimal housing supply, discussed with utmost care with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), is 6,000 units," adding, "Given Seoul's urgent need for dwelling supply, the volume we agreed on after much deliberation is 8,000 units, and that number is the last line. For Chong, who suddenly added 2,000 units on top of that, there is naturally no 'how.'"
Oh said, "If you add 2,000 units on the same area, the existing 'national average' unit type dwellings get even smaller," adding, "Forecasts already say that if 10,000 units are supplied, half would be filled with officetels. It is the same idea as saying that because apartments are lacking, we should build more villas." Oh said, "Withdraw the 10,000-unit (supply remark)," and added, "Apologize to Yongsan residents."