Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, said on the 10th that he "cannot shake the thought that this is typical Democratic Party of Korea" regarding Chong Won-o, the Seongdong District chief who declared a run for Seoul mayor in the 6·3 local elections. Earlier, at the end of last year, Oh had said of Chong, who at the time was being mentioned as the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, that "I evaluate that he shows a stance that differentiates him from other contenders."
At a New Year's press briefing with the city hall press corps held at Seoul City Hall on the morning of Jan. 10, Oh stated accordingly when asked whether "there has been any change in last year's evaluation of Chong."
As the background for this evaluation, he cited the Sampyo Remicon plant site, the Seongsu strategic maintenance district, and the operation of free buses in Seongdong District.
Oh said, "During my first term as mayor in 2008–2009, I created the prior negotiation system and the public contribution system, and the first site we attempted to apply them to was the Sampyo Remicon site," adding, "At that time, Hyundai planned to move its headquarters to Seongsu-dong and proposed a 110-story supertall building, and if we had proceeded as planned, we could have received about 2 trillion won in public contributions by today's standards."
He continued, "Even back then, all investments were to be made near the building, and Seongsu-dong would have developed much faster," adding, "But when Mayor Park (Won-soon) took office, he said he would apply the 35-story rule, and Chong raised no objections."
Oh also said, "Even when Sampyo Remicon drew public attention in 2015 for causing a wastewater discharge accident, if the prior negotiation system and public contribution system had been applied, although late, Sampyo Remicon could have been pushed out early," adding, "It is regrettable that things had no choice but to be delayed by about 10 years."
He then said, "There is no such reflection, and claiming it was an effort to gather signatures from residents to push out Sampyo Remicon is something citizens watching this will judge."
In addition, Oh said, "The Seongsu strategic maintenance district is the same," adding, "Before I left office after my first term as mayor, I announced a plan that would allow construction up to 50 stories, but the succeeding mayor again applied the 35-story rule, and after Chong became district chief in June 2014, there was no progress for 10 years."
He continued, "If that had progressed, about 10,000 apartment units would have been sold to great popularity by now," adding, "It is not that Seongsu-dong's development was merely delayed; Seoul lost the opportunity to supply 10,000 units. If there is no reflection on that, it is something that should be judged by citizens."
Oh also pointed to the free buses currently being operated in Seongdong District. He said, "Using the operation of free buses in Seongdong District to extrapolate to all buses in Seoul is an error of overgeneralization," adding, "Discussing bus reform in Seoul based on the record of operating free buses in a very limited area is an excessive stretch."