Oh Se-hoon vs Kim In-ho Clash Again Over 'Sangsaeng Housing Budget Cuts'

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho) clashed again over the budget cut for 'Sangsaeng Housing,' a key project of Mayor Oh.

On the morning of the 7th, Mayor Oh posted a critical message on his social media account, stating, "The city council is ignoring the pain of monthly rent refugees."

Mayor Oh said, "The city council, dominated by the Democratic Party, cut 97.4% of the approximately 4 billion KRW budget for the newly introduced private-participation long-term lease housing (Sangsaeng Housing) this year, blocking even attempts to resolve the monthly rent crisis," adding, "This decision could never have been made if they truly empathized with the pain of the 'monthly rent refugees.'"

On the other hand, the City Council's Urban Planning and Management Committee rebutted this in a statement released that afternoon. The committee emphasized, "The Sangsaeng Housing budget was cut because budget allocation was impossible while the investment proposal was rejected," and added, "The city submitted investment budget proposals in August and October last year seeking the council's consent, but due to insufficient data to assess the feasibility of the project, the council did not agree to the investment."

Kim In-ho, chairman of the city council, also criticized the mayor's remarks on social media that day, calling the budget cut claim a "misfire." He said, "During the Budget and Accounts Special Committee review process, Mayor Oh accepted the budget cut. There was no request whatsoever to restore it," and added, "It is very regrettable to bring up a matter that was concluded through compromise and agreement again."

'Sangsaeng Housing,' a type of long-term lease housing (Shift) introduced by Mayor Oh in 2007, is a long-term lease housing built by borrowing neglected private land in Seoul. The city planned to supply 70 units as a pilot this year with a goal of providing a total of 3,120 units by 2026, but the budget cut has caused setbacks.

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