Seoul District Mayors Association's Joint Request for Mayor Oh Se-hoon's Property Tax Reduction 'Rejected'

The Seoul District Mayors' Association (Chairman Lee Dong-jin, Dobong District Mayor) held its 160th regular meeting on the morning of the 20th at Jongno District Office and decided not to accept Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's request to cooperate in lowering property taxes from the 159th meeting... Chairman Lee Dong-jin announced after the meeting, "Since the government and ruling party are in the final stages of discussing property tax reductions, we have decided not to formally propose this to the government."

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] It appears that there is a clear disagreement between Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the Seoul Council of District Mayors regarding the reduction of property tax.

The Seoul Council of District Mayors (Chairman Lee Dong-jin, Dobong District Mayor) held its 160th regular meeting on the morning of the 20th at Jongno District Office and decided not to accept Mayor Oh Se-hoon's request from the 159th meeting to cooperate in lowering property tax.

After the meeting, Chairman Lee Dong-jin stated at a press briefing held at Seoul City Hall, "We concluded that it would be better not to jointly propose the property tax reduction between Seoul City and autonomous districts, as suggested by Mayor Oh at the last meeting, at this point in time."

He added, "Considering that final discussions on real estate taxation are ongoing within the government and the ruling party, it was judged that collecting and submitting opinions from the council of district mayors would not be practically beneficial. There were also differences in positions among the autonomous districts regarding property tax reduction, making it difficult to unify opinions."

He continued, "There was also an opinion that the deprivation or alienation felt by the non-homeowning lower-income citizens, who make up 50% of Seoul's population, needs to be considered," adding, "Reducing property tax for owners of relatively high-priced homes could cause feelings of deprivation among lower-income citizens."

Mayor Oh attended the regular meeting of the council of district mayors held online on the 28th of last month and requested cooperation on measures to reduce property tax. However, with the council expressing a negative stance on property tax reduction, it has become difficult for Seoul City and the autonomous districts to present a unified voice.

This is interpreted as a limitation in uniting opinions on Mayor Oh's request for property tax reduction, as 24 out of the 25 Seoul district mayors belong to the Democratic Party, except for Jo Eun-hee, Seocho District Mayor from the People Power Party.

However, mayors from seven districts?Gangnam, Songpa, Gangdong, Yangcheon, Yeongdeungpo, Nowon, and Eunpyeong?held a policy meeting with the Democratic Party's Real Estate Special Committee on the 17th and proposed easing property tax and comprehensive real estate tax.

Meanwhile, the council of district mayors also discussed the recently controversial Greater Seoul Express Train (GTX)-D line.

Chairman Lee said, "There was a discussion agreeing in principle that it would be better for the GTX-D line to be extended to Seoul, and it was agreed that the specific progress would be handled by forming a consultative body among the relevant autonomous districts to negotiate with the government."

He added, "Gangdong, Dongjak, Guro, Geumcheon, Gwanak, Gangseo, Mapo, and Yangcheon districts expressed interest in this issue."

Additionally, the district mayors agreed to reflect future fossil fuel investment performance and ESG implementation in the evaluation criteria for designating autonomous district financial institutions to promote decarbonization and ESG activation. ESG refers to the practice of environmental protection (Environment), social responsibility (Social), and ethical management (Governance) in corporate management.

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