[Interview] Woo Sang-ho "In 4 Years, You Will See Public Housing Along the Hangang River... 86 Generation, I Want to Be Known for Doing Good Work"

First Passport Candidate for Seoul Mayor Election
"I am a Housing Supply Advocate... At the National Assembly, Attracting Global Financial Firms"

Woo Sang-ho, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Park Cheol-eung and Won Dara] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, declared, "In four years, it is possible to supply 160,000 housing units by creating artificial land over the Han River roads and above Seoul’s railway lines." As the first member of the ruling party to announce his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election, he emphasized his stance as a 'housing supply advocate' and stated plans to expand urban redevelopment. He also expressed his intention to actively attract global financial institutions from Hong Kong by easing height restrictions in Yeouido following the relocation of the National Assembly.

In an interview with Asia Economy on the 16th, Woo said regarding his pledge to supply 160,000 housing units, "Redeveloping areas with existing housing takes a lot of time due to the need for owners’ consent, but for riverside roads or railway sites, agreements can be made with the central government or railway corporations." He added, "Since buildings will be about 6 to 7 stories high, the construction period won’t be long. If elected, we will start immediately, and it can be done within four years." He further explained, "There is no new land available in Seoul, so this is a change in thinking."

The plan involves utilizing about one-third of the total length of the riverside roads. Woo said, "The total length of Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Olympic-daero is about 70 km, and we intend to cover about 20 km of the upper part for residential use. The plan also takes into account the view rights."

Although these will be public housing units, the selection will be by lottery without income restrictions, and a mix of small and medium-sized homes will be created for single-person households and youth. However, long-term residence will be a prerequisite, and if sold mid-term, a repurchase condition will be applied requiring sale back to the public without capital gains.

To expand supply, urban redevelopment will also be expanded as much as possible. Woo said, "We need to distinguish between areas to preserve and areas to develop, but urban redevelopment will definitely increase compared to the time of former Mayor Park Won-soon." He added, "The approach will be to increase floor area ratios and secure some floors as public housing, with measures in place to firmly block speculative demand."

He emphasized, "I am an advocate of supply, but the goal is clearly to realize the dreams of ordinary people, not to supply housing as prey for speculative demand."

He also presented a major blueprint to attract global financial firms to Yeouido following the National Assembly’s relocation. Woo said, "Due to the situation in Hong Kong, almost 100% of the Asian headquarters of global financial firms there are planning to relocate, with Singapore and Seoul as candidate sites." He added, "This is information I gathered through acquaintances in the financial sector. If I become mayor, I will immediately form a task force to attract them."

The Democratic Party’s National Balanced Development and Administrative Capital Promotion Team recently announced plans to relocate 10 standing committees and the Budget and Accounts Special Committee to the Sejong Assembly Hall in the first phase. Woo said, "Currently, height restrictions in front of the National Assembly (West Yeouido) are tied to the National Assembly, but these can be lifted." He added, "Through political negotiations, we can also provide maximum tax benefits. We expect tremendous investment and job creation."

He is a symbolic politician of the '86 Generation' (born in the 1960s, university class of the 1980s), having served as president of Yonsei University’s student council and vice-chairman of the first National Council of Student Representatives (Jeondaehyeop). Along with his Seoul mayoral candidacy, he has also announced he will not run in the next general election.

Woo said, "It has been 20 years of political life during which I must reflect and introspect for not meeting the public’s expectations." He added, "I declared my non-candidacy as a response to accusations that I am just trying to keep my position. While I admit my mistakes, I want to say I am not that bad, and if I become mayor of Seoul, I sincerely hope to retire with the evaluation, ‘He was criticized as part of the 86 Generation, but he actually got things done and had a different attitude.’"

Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.