Oh Sehoon Says "Mayor Jeong Won-o Did Nothing"...Blames Him for Delays in Sampyo Remicon Site Development

"Delayed the development of Seongsu-dong by about 10 years"
If there is no reflection, it should be subject to the judgment of the citizens

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon strongly criticized Seongdong District Mayor Jeong Won-o over the development of the Sampyo Remicon site, saying, "Mayor Jeong Won-o is someone who has done nothing."

Oh Sehoon, mayor of Seoul, is holding the '2026 Press Corps New Year Meeting' at Seoul City Hall on Feb. 10, 2026. Reporter Yoon Dongju

On this day, at the "2026 Press Corps New Year Meeting" held at Seoul City Hall, Mayor Oh said, "The Sampyo Remicon plant issue was something for which sufficient groundwork could have been laid during the terms of Mayor Park Won-soon and District Mayor Jeong Won-o," making these remarks.

He argued that when social controversy intensified in 2015 due to the Sampyo Remicon wastewater discharge accident, the ready-mix concrete plant could have been relocated early if the prior consultation system and public contribution scheme had been utilized, but missing that opportunity delayed the development of Seongsu-dong by about 10 years.

Mayor Oh explained, "During my first term as mayor in 2008–2009, we introduced the prior consultation system and the public contribution scheme, and we reviewed the Sampyo Remicon site as the first candidate for application," adding, "If negotiations had proceeded as envisioned at the time, Seongsu-dong could have grown much faster and larger, as we could have secured about 2 trillion won in public contributions alone."

He also cited the Seongsu Strategic Redevelopment Zone as a similar case. He pointed out, "Just before I left office in 2011, I designated the Seongsu Strategic Redevelopment Zone, but afterward the 35-story height restriction was applied, and there was no progress for 10 years after Mayor Jeong took office in 2014," adding, "As a result, not only was the development of Seongsu-dong delayed, but Seoul also lost the opportunity to supply about 10,000 housing units." He went on to say, "If there is no reflection on this process, then it should be subject to the judgment of the citizens."

He also distanced himself from the "Success Bus" that Seongdong District touts as an achievement. Mayor Oh criticized, "It is an excessive generalization to discuss the overall concept of Seoul's bus system based on free buses operated in some limited areas," adding, "It is a gross distortion to evaluate Seoul's bus reform based on such extremely limited cases."

Furthermore, Mayor Oh stated, "Starting from the bus strike, various opinions can be expressed, but the alternatives proposed by those people (the Democratic Party) are not desirable alternatives" and added, "We will prepare a more sophisticated post-policy through sufficient discussion and consultation."

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