Local Election D-20, Key Battlegrounds... Seoul Focuses on Real Estate, Gyeonggi on GTX

Oh Se-hoon Renovates Old Houses with 'Moatown'
Song Young-gil Promotes 'Nugunajip Project'

Kim Eun-hye Calls for Early Completion of 'GTX Line'
Kim Dong-yeon Proposes Line Extension and New Construction

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] With 20 days remaining until the June 1 local elections, real estate and transportation issues are expected to sway voter sentiment in Seoul and Gyeonggi, which are anticipated to be the key battlegrounds.

On the 12th, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party candidate for Seoul mayor, declared his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral election in Gocheok-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, and greeted residents./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Song Young-gil, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, attended the 'Song Young-gil Walking Volunteer Corps Launch Ceremony' held on the 12th at the campaign office in Mugyo-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, and delivered a greeting. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

◆ Oh Se-hoon vs Song Young-gil: Top Priority Issue ‘Real Estate’ = Seoul citizens view the ‘real estate issue’ as the most urgent problem to solve, just as they did in last year’s April 7 by-election, leading to expectations that this will again be a ‘real estate election’ in the June 1 Seoul mayoral race.

On the 12th, Mayor Oh completed his registration as a Seoul mayoral candidate in the morning and officially began his election campaign. Riding the ‘incumbent premium,’ Mayor Oh is determined to secure consecutive victories in this election and fully implement the ‘Oh Se-hoon-style’ real estate policies he has been drafting over the past year. He explained that with the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, he can accelerate Seoul’s core housing policies. Although he has not yet released official pledges, through media interviews and social networking services (SNS), he has emphasized normalizing redevelopment and reconstruction to supply 185,000 housing units, as well as renovating old housing through the Moa Housing and Moa Town projects. In particular, Moa Town is a regional-level redevelopment method that consolidates areas within 100,000 square meters to renovate old housing and establish necessary public infrastructure such as public parking lots. It is considered one of Mayor Oh’s key projects. If designated as a Moa Town, the area benefits from relaxed restrictions on aging, floor area ratio, and building height, allowing development into mid-rise apartments on appropriately sized lots (1,500 square meters or more).

Candidate Song announced his real estate policy the day before to capture Seoul voters. He plans to supply an additional 410,000 housing units in Seoul through public-led rapid development, prioritizing 30% of these for young people. He also pledged to abolish the comprehensive real estate tax for actual residents such as single-homeowners, promising to “lower taxes and ease financial regulations for genuine buyers.” Furthermore, he is focusing on supply by proposing the ‘Anyone’s House’ project, which allows non-homeowners to pay only 10% of the price, live at half rent for 10 years, and then purchase their home at the initially confirmed sale price, aiming to supply 20,000 units to low-income households.

◆ Kim Eun-hye vs Kim Dong-yeon: GTX Clash = In the Gyeonggi governor election, candidates are staking their chances on solving the long-standing ‘transportation’ issue. Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party candidate, emphasized the ‘First Generation New Town Reconstruction Master Plan’ while announcing her nine visions for Gyeonggi Province. She explained that under the new government, a ‘First Generation New Town Special Act’ will be enacted and a ‘Presidential Task Force for First Generation New Towns’ will be established to restore the reputation of Ilsan, Bundang, Pyeongchon, Sanbon, and Jungdong, which were once symbols of prosperous Gyeonggi. In particular, she promised the prompt promotion of the GTX D line (Gimpo?Hanam), E line (Guri?Namyangju), and F line (circular), which were pledged by President Yoon Suk-yeol during his presidential campaign, along with the existing GTX A, B, and C lines. This is interpreted as a response to the criticism that the GTX E and F line pledges, which were part of the presidential campaign, were omitted from the national agenda, suggesting a retreat.

Kim Dong-yeon, the Democratic Party candidate, introduced the ‘1-3-5 pledge’ as his first promise as a Gyeonggi governor candidate. The 1-3-5 pledge aims to rapidly reconstruct and remodel first-generation new towns, ensure that third-generation new towns have well-established infrastructure such as transportation, and supply quality housing to youth and newlyweds through 50% discounted housing. He also emphasized that President Yoon’s GTX expansion pledge has regressed and expressed his determination to create a smooth transportation system in Gyeonggi through GTX extensions and new lines. Specifically, through the ‘GTX Plus Project,’ he proposed additional extensions of the existing GTX A, B, and C lines, and the establishment of the D line (Gimpo?Paldang), E line (Incheon?Seoul?Pocheon), and F line (Paju?Yeoju).

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