[이코노미스트] The three Seoul Mayor candidates, the Seoul they dream of

Political standing next to the President, all-out efforts to capture the values ​​of the times… War of supply of 300,000, 360,000, and 740,000 houses

On April 7th, the outlines of the finalists for the mayoral election by the mayor of Seoul were revealed. In addition, the Democratic Party elected former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-seon, a fourth-tier leader through the primary, as a candidate. The power of the people voluntarily resigned from the mayor of Seoul in 2010, and the candidate was former Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who aims for the middle ground. Representative Ahn Chul-soo was the candidate for the National Assembly.

Candidate Park Young-seon is competing for the position of single candidate for pan-passport with Candidate Jo Jung-hoon of the times and Kim Jin-ae, a member of the Open Democratic Party, who declared his resignation as a member of the parliament. Even though opposition candidates Oh Se-hoon and Ahn Cheol-soo have discussed the unification of the candidates, there is a high possibility that they can run for each other as of now, as the two parties do not have a different interest. If the power of the people and the unification of the candidates of the National Assembly Party fail, the election of the mayor of Seoul on the 7th of the following month will be held in a three-way structure.

After the president, the presidential-class giants will compete for the position of the mayor of Seoul, who has a political position. In particular, this by-election is expected to be more fierce as it is a five-year term in effect that will lead to the local elections next year.

Elections are largely determined by people, composition, and policies. All three candidates are highly recognized politicians representing the opposition parties, and have undergone numerous verifications through political activities over a long period of time. In addition, the democratic party and opposition parties have similar approval ratings, so the election structure is also tight. It can be said that the character and composition are somewhat balanced. Unless there are political events or revelations that might shake the market until the election, which candidate will come up with a policy that appeals to the citizens of Seoul is likely to determine the disagreement. In the election, a candidate who captures the spirit of the times of the citizens wins. The spirit of the times is reflected as a policy, and it is also reflected in each candidate’s brand or image.

Unfortunately, the three candidates who took part in the mayor’s election this time are related to the mayor’s by-election in 2011. At that time, the by-election was held when Mayor Oh Se-hoon resigned as a result of a free meal referendum. Candidate Park Young-seon was defeated by the late Mayor Park Won-soon, who was then executive director of Hope Factory, in the pan-optics single candidate contest. Candidate Ahn Chul-soo, who caused a breeze outside the political sphere, served as a midwife in the election of former Mayor Park, conceding his position as a citizen candidate for mayor of Seoul.

In 2011, when the pre-election was held, citizens were dissatisfied with the controversy over universal welfare arising from the free meal debate and the unilateral communication of the ruling party that defended the concentration of wealth to large corporations. As a result, Mayor Park put forward economic democratization and universal welfare, such as protection of irregular workers and alleys, as policies. Citizens pursued social and cultural transformation through civil society activities for a long time, and voted for Mayor Park Jeon, who was not bound by the existing political grammar.

In this election, the keywords’future’ and’real estate’ were mixed. All three candidates are planning to grow Seoul into a world-class city beyond Korea, while promoting the stability of housing for the real estate commoners, and to be verified as a prowess in terms of political and administrative capabilities.

First, the ruling party’s candidate Park Young-sun has an advantage over competitors. In the 21st general election last year, the Democratic Party sweeps through the Seoul district, and the party’s organizational power is ahead of its rival candidates. In particular, Candidate Park can extend the policy with a forward-looking message while inheriting the policy stances of former Mayor Park Won-soon, such as safety, welfare, and citizenship.

The result was the ’21 minute compact city’. The idea is to divide Seoul into 21 districts, and to reorganize Seoul into a multi-nuclear decentralized city with compact anchors in each district. It is explained that it will make it possible to digest education, childcare, health care, shopping, leisure, and culture, as well as work within 21 minutes within each area. Jobs and infrastructure concentrated in Gwanghwamun, Gangnam, and Yeouido will be distributed by region, and bed towns will be created near jobs to alleviate the concentration of downtown Seoul.

It is possible to achieve equal regional development by evenly growing the Gangseo, Gangbuk, and Gangdong regions, which have been marginalized even in Seoul. In addition, it is possible to interpret political engineering that the Democratic Party will get votes evenly in a wide area except for the weak Gangnam.

It also introduced a policy to support the competitiveness of alley merchants by distributing 100,000 smart stores and introducing a subscription economy-type consumption model. It is interpreted as an intention to engrave the image of a leader who will lead Korea in the future by embedding future-oriented values ​​in municipal administration. Candidate Park also said, “Seoul will become the world’s standard city and digital economic capital that will lead the next 100 years.”

As a solution to the real estate problem, the current government’s Achilles heel, it has provided half-price apartments and 300,000 public housing units that can be occupied for 10 million won. The median price of apartments in Seoul reached 947.98 million won, which means that public housing with high accessibility will be increased to alleviate the burden of the growing public. In particular, it announced that it will provide an interest-free loan of 50 million won to young people and small business owners to support the self-employed people who are suffering from soft landing and jagged sales pressures of the first-timers in society.

Candidate Se-Hoon Oh and Chul-Soo Ahn are driving public opinion while pinching the current situation of the current government, centering on the real estate issue. It is trying to attract citizens’ support through the weaknesses of the ruling party.

Candidate Oh’s position is to abolish the limit on the number of floors on the 7th floor and 35th floor of the Han River while supplying 360,000 new houses similar to Park’s. The property tax for non-income one-homeowners will be reduced or exempted, and the property tax rate will also be reduced. In addition, he said that he would increase the financial independence of autonomous districts in Seoul by turning the comprehensive real estate tax to a local tax.

Candidate Oh also announced that he would host the ‘2032 Seoul Olympics’ and open an era of 700 trillion won in the Seoul economy in 2033. It is to raise Seoul’s international status to the next level and make it a city that surpasses New York, France, Paris, and London, UK. In the process of the People’s Strength contest, he also showed his will to selective welfare rather than universal, such as safe income.

Candidate Ahn Chul-soo, who is also mentioned as a leading presidential runner, is formulating a no-run for next year’s presidential election and solidifying his five-year pledge. Candidate Ahn came up with a stronger real estate policy than candidates Park Young-sun and Oh Se-hoon. It is planning to supply 746,000 houses over the next five years, led by the private sector. This included 100,000 youth rental housing for the stability of youth and 400,000 customized housing for 3040 and 5060 households. If candidate Ahn’s pledge becomes a reality, 150,000 households will be supplied per year. This is more than three times more than the 48,078 households in Seoul apartments last year, which was the largest in 12 years since 2008.

The plan is to promote this through private redevelopment and reconstruction projects. Candidate Ahn also revealed his vision of raising Seoul’s productivity, securing future growth engines, and growing it into a global economic city with the keywords of freedom, innovation, and convergence, as a venture entrepreneur.

Reporter Kim Yoo-kyung [email protected]