Cho Kuk, head of the Rebuilding Korea Party Innovation Policy Institute, said on the 27th that the plan proposed by Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, to develop the site of the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center in Gangnam District is "to pump up Gangnam real estate."
On this morning, Cho posted on Facebook an article titled "Oh Se-hoon, the 'Gangnam mayor,' who puts Gangnam ahead of the youth housing crisis," and said, "Mayor Oh's plan to transfer the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center and create a 'physical AI-specialized industrial complex' and a residential complex centered on youth dwellings on the site is put forward under the pretext of resolving the youth housing crisis, but is closer to a scheme to maximize the value of a prime location in Gangnam."
Cho first said, "Mayor Oh is selectively applying a time calculus to avoid Yongsan." Cho said, "Even if you simply add up Mayor Oh's remark that the Tancheon transfer plan would take four to five years for facility transfer and four to five years for housing construction, it comes to eight to 10 years, the same time required as for Yongsan Park."
He also mentioned the potential for real estate value to rise due to site development. Cho said, "Around the Tancheon Water Reclamation Center, there are projections that once the sewage treatment facilities are removed, it will become one of the most prime locations in Gangnam," adding, "There is a strong possibility it will be a catalyst for a surge in real estate values."
He also criticized the method of supplying housing. Cho said, "We must also address the method of supplying youth housing," adding, "Mayor Oh said he would sell the sites of the Dongbu Road Office and SETEC (Seoul Trade Exhibition & Convention) and use them as seed money to attract private investment to build dwellings." He continued, "Dwellings built through private investment inevitably prioritize business feasibility over public interest, and there is a high risk of repeating a development structure in which the public bears the expense while the private sector takes the revenue."
He added, "In the end, the slogan of 'solving youth housing' is nothing but wrapping paper to legitimize pumping up Gangnam real estate."
Cho also offered advice to the government. He said, "Kim Yun-duk, the Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), must hold the line. The original purpose of utilizing the Yongsan Park site lies in 'youth' and 'green space,'" adding, "The government must not be dragged along by Mayor Oh's overt 'Gangnam-centered development policy.'"