Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, right, speaks during the 30th Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in the Blue House on July 14. Oh requested additional time to comment on housing policy and discuss the issue, but was instead asked to submit his remarks in writing.JOINT PRESS CORPS
Lee Sang-ryeol
The author is a senior editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
On July 14, President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook should not have stopped Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon from speaking about housing during a Cabinet meeting.
For many residents of Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, soaring housing costs are the country's most urgent livelihood issue. Apartment prices and rents are rising faster than during the Moon Jae-in administration's housing crisis. During the first year of the Lee administration, apartment prices climbed 14.7 percent, the highest annual increase on record. Many factors contributed, but inadequate supply cannot be ignored. According to KB Real Estate, only 18,189 apartments are scheduled for completion in Seoul this year, roughly half last year's 35,891. Next year's figure, 16,509, offers little improvement. Apartment approvals and construction starts have also declined sharply in recent years, pointing to an even deeper supply shortage ahead.
At least under the current administration, the immediate trigger for soaring prices is not speculation or owners of multiple homes but insufficient supply: in other words, policy failure.
It defies common sense that a government that controls the executive and legislature while wielding enormous influence over the judiciary, which has made housing its top priority at a time when private capital remains available for construction, watches prices continue to reach record highs because too few homes are being built. The problem lies in years of policies centered overwhelmingly on suppressing demand.
The mayor understands Seoul's housing constraints better than almost anyone. Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom argued that redevelopment and reconstruction are not universal solutions. Even so, everyone knows there is little vacant land left for large apartment projects inside Seoul. Mayor Oh has called for significantly easing regulations on relocation loans and other financing needed for redevelopment and reconstruction, while the government has responded cautiously.
Instead of cutting off the discussion, the Cabinet should have openly debated why the two sides disagree and whether accelerating urban renewal could expand housing supply without further destabilizing the market through practical cooperation instead.
Holding a national forum on housing while preventing the Seoul mayor from speaking at a Cabinet meeting sends a troubling message. It suggests not merely poor optics but an administration willing to hear only opinions it already accepts. Such an approach will not solve the housing crisis. Apartments cannot be built overnight.
The same tendency is evident in the Lee administration's drive to abolish prosecutors' supplementary investigative authority. The Jang Yun-gi case became a turning point, convincing many citizens that eliminating the system could leave victims with little recourse when police investigations fail. Public concern has grown over the possibility that evidence may be overlooked, mishandled or even concealed. A recent Gallup Korea poll found that 61 percent favored retaining supplementary investigations, while only 23 percent supported abolishing them entirely.
On July 15, victims of violent crime, including Kim Jin-ju, the pseudonym used by the victim in the Busan kick assault case (initially treated as a random assault before investigators determined it was an attempted murder committed with the intent to sexually assault the victim), appeared with their lawyers at a news conference. They described the severe suffering caused by inadequate police investigations and declared that prosecutorial reform should not proceed at the expense of victims. One woman said victims should not lose the last remaining safeguard of supplementary investigations when they are already forced to uncover evidence missed by police. Kim argued that wealthy and powerful politicians would always be able to protect themselves, while ordinary citizens without influence would bear the consequences. Another victim called supplementary investigations “a lifeline.”
The Democratic Party justifies the reform by citing the prosecution's past abuses, including the investigation preceding former President Roh Moo-hyun's death, the Cho Kuk controversy during the Moon administration and conflicts involving prosecutors under former President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yet it says little about the risks that abolishing supplementary investigations could pose to public safety. Reports also say Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho warned Democratic Party lawmakers that eliminating the system without an alternative could ultimately harm ordinary citizens and become a political burden for the party itself.
Governments that ignore public opinion have repeatedly faced judgment from history. The greater concern is that the damage suffered by citizens may prove irreversible.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
