Former 경실련 Director Kim Heon-dong, Final Candidate Selected as SH President After Retake

A Figure Who Harshly Criticized Moon Jae-in Government's Soaring Housing Prices
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Likely to Be Appointed as President Due to Job Offer

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] Kim Heon-dong, former head of the Real Estate and Construction Reform Headquarters at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, has been named as a final candidate for the president of Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation). The SH Corporation president recruitment, vacant for six months, is now in its third round due to voluntary withdrawals and controversies over interview fairness. Kim previously applied for the second recruitment round at the recommendation of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon but was eliminated.

According to Seoul City on the 30th, the SH Corporation president executive recommendation committee conducted interviews for presidential candidates the day before and selected two final candidates, including Kim, and submitted their names to Seoul City. Kim reportedly received the highest score in the interview.

After Seoul City completes the verification of these candidates and selects the final one, the Seoul Metropolitan Council will conduct a confirmation hearing. The council prepares the hearing within 10 days of the request. However, the confirmation hearing report has no legal binding force. Therefore, even if the council issues an 'unsuitable' opinion on Kim, Mayor Oh can proceed with the appointment.

This SH Corporation president recruitment is the third since former president Kim Se-yong retired in April. In the first recruitment, former National Assembly member Kim Hyun-ah was selected as the final candidate and underwent a council hearing but failed due to controversies over multiple home ownership. In the second recruitment, Kim applied and emerged as a strong candidate but was eliminated during the executive recommendation committee interview process. Some suggest that the committee members recommended by the Seoul Metropolitan Council gave Kim low scores because he had been a harsh critic of the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies. Consequently, Mayor Oh judged both candidates who passed the interview as unsuitable, leading to the third recruitment round.

Since Mayor Oh proposed the SH Corporation president recruitment to Kim, the possibility of Kim's final appointment is considered high. On the 3rd, during a Seoul Metropolitan Council policy question session, Mayor Oh said, "In a situation where apartment prices are soaring, it would be great if we could bring in someone like Kim to control apartment prices, which is why I proposed he apply as a policy decision."

Meanwhile, Kim has been a civic activist with the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice since 2000. In 2004, he established the 'Apartment Price Bubble Removal Movement Headquarters,' proposing measures such as disclosure of construction costs and improvement of land supply systems. Recently, he has consistently held press conferences pointing out issues such as the housing price surge under the current government.

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