Seoul Mayor postpones unveiling of master plan amid real estate price row

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon indefinitely postponed the unveiling of his master plan for the next four years, saying making the announcement at this point could worsen the continued escalation of real estate prices.

“We will postpone the announcement of the plans until Seoul’s real estate market is stabilized,” an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government said.

Park was scheduled to unveil the plan on Sept. 13, including a major project to build a public park, the biggest in Seoul, in Magok District, as well as 1,000 more children’s day care centers.
 

The plans also was to include a project to restrict the number of road lanes in central Seoul to a maximum of four, while doubling bike lanes by 2030.

The postponement of the announcement followed Park’s temporary suspension of a plan to reshape Seoul’s Yongsan and Yeouido neighborhoods. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said last week that the redevelopment scheme will be indefinitely postponed until the property market stabilizes.

Apartment prices in Seoul have gone up in recent weeks after Park announced a redevelopment plan for two districts in July. Yeouido is one of the major financial districts in Seoul, as well as home to the National Assembly. Yongsan, in the center of Seoul, has long hosted a US military base that is now being relocated.

Prior to Park’s unveiling of the redevelopment plan, apartment places in Seoul had shown signs of stabilizing following the heavy taxation of those who own multiple homes in April.

Last month, the Moon Jae-in administration designated four districts in Seoul -- Dongdaemun-gu, Jongno-gu, Jung-gu and Dongjak-gu -- as “speculative” areas subject to stricter financial and other regulations in a bid to curb the city’s overheated real estate market.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)