Rumors of Former Kyungsillyeon Director Kim Heondong Applying for SH President Position Likely to Stir Seoul City Council Hearing Again

Former Kyungsilyeon Director Kim Heon-dong, SH President Candidate, Reportedly De Facto President Nominee Amid Speculation; Korean Daily Reports Kyungsilyeon Faced Difficulties Due to Support for Mayor Oh Se-hoon in 4.7 Seoul Mayoral By-election... Expected to Face Scrutiny Again at Seoul City Council Confirmation Hearing

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim Heon-dong, former head of the Real Estate and Construction Reform Headquarters at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), has applied for the position of president of the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), leading to reports suggesting that he is virtually appointed, putting CCEJ in an awkward position.

Also, if Kim, the former head, is nominated as an SH president candidate and a personnel hearing is held at the Seoul Metropolitan Council, it is expected to become controversial again, following former candidate Kim Hyun-ah, who was disqualified for being a multi-homeowner.

In particular, Kim, the former head, strongly criticized the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies and SH's sales-centered management approach during former Mayor Park Won-soon's tenure.

On the 18th, Hankook Ilbo reported that Kim, the former head, applied for the SH president position on the 13th and expressed his intention to resign from CCEJ, putting the organization in a difficult position. Since 2019, CCEJ has actively criticized the current government's real estate policies, mainly arguing that flawed policies caused housing prices to skyrocket. Around the same time, SH's housing projects also came under scrutiny. Just last month, CCEJ held two press conferences criticizing SH, stating that SH "undervalued its assets to justify overpriced sales" (on the 13th) and "purchased private housing at high prices while running rental housing projects" (on the 26th).

Because of this, immediately after it became known that Kim, the former head, applied for the SH president position, reports emerged claiming that "CCEJ indirectly supported Mayor Oh's election in the April 7 by-election" or that "Kim's nomination as a candidate is highly likely."

CCEJ held consecutive press conferences on March 29 and 30, just before the Seoul mayoral by-election, alleging that SH made huge profits from selling public land and public sales, and at the end of last year, filed a lawsuit opposing the Gwanghwamun Plaza restructuring project, a key project of former Mayor Park.

In response to these speculative reports, CCEJ issued a statement the day before, denying the claims by saying, "We compared and analyzed SH's housing policies under various mayors and demanded the role of the Seoul mayor, but reports claiming we supported a specific candidate are not true."

CCEJ's previous opposition to former lawmaker Kim Hyun-ah, who was previously appointed as SH president, also caused controversy. Kim Hyun-ah faced criticism after it was revealed during the council's personnel hearing that she owned multiple homes and voluntarily resigned earlier this month. CCEJ explained that the statement opposing Kim Hyun-ah was issued by the Urban Reform Center, a corporation under the organization, which is separate from the Real Estate and Construction Reform Headquarters to which Kim Heon-dong belonged.

Additionally, Newsis reported that Kim, the former head, recently met with Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, among others, raising expectations that if the SH president candidate hearing is held at the Seoul Metropolitan Council, where the majority of members are from the Democratic Party, it will spark heated controversy again.

A key Seoul council member involved in the hearing told reporters on the 20th, "If a hearing is held and Kim Heon-dong is nominated, we will rigorously scrutinize him from the perspective of personnel verification."

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