Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon presents ‘Seoul Smart City Platform’ at CES 2020 in Las Vegas on Jan. 8. (Photo: SMG)

In his New Year’s message, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon unveiled a plan to introduce a public real estate sharing system.

He said the Seoul Metropolitan Government will establish the tentatively named “Public Real Estate Sharing Fund” to put the system into practice.

“I had already proposed a public real estate sharing system to claw back unearned income and revenues accruing from the implementation of development projects, and the public sector will increase real estate ownership to supply land and buildings to companies and individuals at cheaper prices,” he said.

With the fund, public rental units will be supplied to dramatically improve the quality of the people’s livelihood, according to Mayor Park. The following are excerpts of his New Year’s message.

The year 2020 has dawned. Our economy and the public livelihood still is not easy. The Korean economy is losing its growth momentum. A large company-centered export drive has hit limitations.

The competitiveness of the manufacturing industry is declining, and self-employed businesses are in a stark situation.

Korea is stuck in a “dilemma of middle advanced country.” This is owed to lack of proprietary technology and poor basic science.

A low birth rate, which will have economic and social repercussions, and aging society, makes these challenging times. There should be a dramatic shift to revive the national economy and public livelihood.

The benefits of economic growth we have achieved are not evenly distributed. The principal causes of the ever-worsening public livelihood is attributable to economic inequality and bipolarization of wealth.

Our society has no hope unless the fundamental causes of ever-worsening bipolarization and inequalities are corrected.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to do its part to make a “fair starting line” by mobilizing available resources.
SMG plans to expand the beneficiaries of the “youth benefit” to 100,000 youth. 200,000 won monthly will be offered in a rental for six months for 45,000 youth, who had been driven out of their rooms.

In 2020, SMG will dramatically expand housing support to virtually all newlyweds, except couples with over 100 million won in combined income, who can afford to buy their own house.

Seoul has continued to construct and supply public rental homes for the past eight years by appropriating 1 trillion won in a yearly budget.

The metropolitan city will own about 400,000 units, accounting for 10 percent of the city’s total households in two years.

They will be used to stabilize the livelihoods of those in the low-income bracket.

Ultimately, the nation should provide homes to any persons, including those in the middle income bracket.

SMG Bids to Host Asian Version of CES

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is seeking to host the Asian version of Consumer Electronic Show, an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon visited Las Vegas to participate in CES 2020. Mayor Park met with CTA Chairman Gary Shapiro on the sidelines of CES 2020 in Jan. 8. During their meeting, Mayor Park conveyed his willingness to attract the Asian version of CES to Chairman Shapiro, who gave an affirmative answer to the offer.

Attention is now focused on whether the Asian version of CES will take place next year in Seoul apart from CES, being held in Las Vegas every January.

It was known that Mayor Park launched the bid to attract CES when he met with CTA President Karen Chupka, who came in Seoul last year and he tried to persuade the latter with the necessity of hosting the Asian version of the CES.

Mayor Park told Chairman Shapiro Seoul, which ranks 3rd in terms of attracting MICEs, is complete with world-class infrastructure such as diverse exhibition facilities, hotels and culture.

Mayor Park reportedly said Seoul is the best favorite city to host CES since exhibitors of each CES include major players of the global IT industry, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG Electronics.

CES takes place in Las Vegas every year, and regional versions are separately held in Europe and Asia. In spring, CES Asia is held in Shanghai, China, and in autumn, CES Unveiled takes place in areas such as Amsterdam and Paris.