Mayor Oh Vows to Make Seoul a Global Top 5 Metropolis

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon takes an oath as he took office as Seoul Mayor at an online inauguration ceremony on July 1. (Photos: SMG)

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon toured a section of shanties in changsin-dong following the end of his online inauguration ceremony on July 1.

His move may be interpreted as a signal he is attaching top priority to expanding support to the socially underprivileged and those in low-income brackets while running the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG).

When Mayor Oh took some time to care for sick people, he announced three steps to operate a restaurant in the neighborhood of shanty houses, expand meals to homeless facilities and install air conditioners.

Mayor Oh heralded his willingness to dramatically ramp up support for the socially underprivileged.

The move is an indication he plans to further expand income and housing support policies that have been implemented since last year. Among the income and housing support policies are “comfortable income,” a system to make up for insufficient income for those in low-income brackets and “high-class” rental housing.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announces policies to support the underprivileged after touring a section of shanties in Changsin-dong following the end of his online inauguration ceremony on July 1.

In his inaugural speech, Mayor Oh reaffirmed his determination to rectify what his processor, ex-mayor Park Won-soon, had implemented poorly.

He said SMG would look into commissioned funds and subsidies offered to civic organizations to determine whether they had been executed in a clumsy and lax fashion.

As he took office as the 39th mayor, Mayor Oh said “helping the underprivileged” is “the reason for his being as mayor” and the task of his whole life. “It is an essential task to ease bipolarization and raise Seoul’s urban competitiveness,” he said.

Mayor Oh said SMG would prioritize helping the underprivileged and make efforts to bring more benefits to poor and isolated people. SMG plans to expand policies related to those in low-income brackets and the underprivileged.

In his inaugural speech, secondly, Mayor Oh called for stabilizing the housing market by normalizing the implementation of reconstruction and redevelopment projects.

For Seoul, a megacity with a population of 10 million, the stabilizing of the housing market is the most important issue. As housing prices have showed signs of stability and decline, SMG will mobilize all policy means to max out housing supply.

Initially, institutional foundation will be laid for the stabilizing of housing supply, and redevelopment and reconstruction projects will be implemented as soon as possible on the basis of a fast, integrated planning format.

“Moa houses” and “moa towns” will be built under housing refurbishment projects by putting together old and low-rise house.

The metropolitan government will expand good quality rental apartments for low-income earners and the underprivileged, newly-wed couples and one-man families.

To this end, it will spearhead efforts to remove discrimination and isolation of rental apartments and ease the “housing divide.” SMG will build a virtuous cycle in which people start their first housing at rental houses and move to publicly distributed apartments.

Thirdly, Mayor Oh pledged to make Seoul a global top five metropolis squaring off with London and Paris by raising the capital’s attractiveness.

The key to making Seoul a global leading city is changing Seoul an attractive place in which anyone around the world loves to live, visit, work, and invest.

First of all, SMG will reinvigorate the economy by nurturing future growth engines. “Old Downtown” sections like Uljiro, Jongno and Taegaero will be changed into high-density multi-purpose business towns to ramp up urban centers’ functions, while a “global innovation core hub” will be built with the Han River as its center by connecting Yonsan’s international business function and Yeouido’s global financing function.

As the Presidential Office is relocated to Yongsan, the area will be transformed into a “smart city” of digital transformation.

And the Dongdaemun (East Gate) area will change into a center of a beauty industry while Hongneung and Yangjae will be developed into bio, AI and other advanced technology districts to ramp up each hub of industry competitiveness.

SMG will do not spare investments into advanced technology sectors such AI, big data and cloud to nurture digital innovation manpower essential for industry sites.

Youth job academies educating manpower coupled with the 4th Industrial Revolution will be expanded to all 25 wards, so that youth can be educated to land good jobs at any place.