Chong Won-o of the Democratic Party of Korea and Oh Se-hoon of the People Power Party, both running for Seoul mayor, clashed over housing supply in Yongsan. Oh criticized Chong's remarks suggesting that 10,000 dwellings could be supplied in the Yongsan International Business District as a "chicken-coop apartment village." Chong's camp countered that it was "an outrageous remark that doesn't understand the global standard."
Chong's camp said in a statement on the 9th, "Oh used lowbrow language to mount a political attack on social media, calling Chong's suggestion that supplying 10,000 dwellings in the Yongsan International Business District is possible a 'chicken-coop apartment village.'"
It added, "This exposes Oh's 'global ignorance' in failing to grasp the current of global urban planning and is an outrageous remark that butchers citizens' aspirations for a better residential environment," and said, "Chong's plan to supply urban mixed housing in the Yongsan International Business District is the 'global standard.'"
They also cited Hudson Yards in New York, United States, and Azabudai Hills in Tokyo, Japan. Chong's camp said, "The common prescription of global cities is the mixed use of business districts," and added, "Yongsan, too, must become a city where housing is near workplaces and where schools, hospitals, and parks are together, so that global corporations' head quarters can be attracted."
Earlier, at a briefing with Seoul City Hall correspondents on Mar. 3, Chong said regarding the volume of housing supply in the Yongsan International Business District, "Whether the dwellings number 8,000 or 10,000 is not important," adding, "We can certainly do 10,000, so we will negotiate with the government and resolve the issue."
Oh, responding to Chong's remarks, said on Facebook the previous day, "One wonders if urban planning, to Chong, is nothing more than a computer simulation game," adding, "The answer that 'numbers are not important' squarely shows that Chong is, again, an unprepared candidate for Seoul mayor."
He continued, "The Yongsan International Business District is one of the very few remaining growth plates of Seoul, tied to the future livelihood of 10 million citizens and the quality jobs desperately sought by the younger generation," adding, "By seeking to reduce such a Seoul to a chicken-coop apartment village, an overconcentrated bedroom town, Chong is shattering the city's future."
Oh also said, "I have no idea by what means the increasing private car traffic and the demand for public transportation and parking will be handled," adding, "If we redraw from scratch the infrastructure plans, including water and sewage facilities, it will take two years. It means kicking away the 'golden time.'"