Seoul park dispute pits President Lee against Mayor Oh over housing plans

Seoul, South Korea. President Lee Jae Myung and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon are in dispute over whether part of the planned Yongsan Park should be used for apartment construction as housing prices rise in the capital.

Park and housing dispute

Oh said the planned open area was needed to address Seoul’s “greenery deficit” and that the 300-hectare site required environmental cleanup.

He told Reuters he would not give up “a single centimetre” of the capital’s largest planned park for apartment towers proposed by Lee.

“We remain at odds over Yongsan Park,” Oh said in an interview. “I cannot agree under any circumstances to using it as a site for apartments.”

Housing pressure and political stakes

The dispute reflects the challenge of addressing housing shortages in megacities while preserving liveability and environmental health. Seoul has a population density of 16,000 people per square kilometre, higher than London, New York or Tokyo.

Lee’s approval rating fell to a record low of 37% in the past two months, according to a Gallup Korea poll released on Friday. Real-estate policy was the main driver of disapproval, while Seoul apartment prices rose for a record 86 consecutive weeks through the first week of September, according to the Korea Real Estate Board.

Lee’s centre-left Democratic Party won most major local races in June, but Oh, a conservative, won another term as Seoul mayor. The result leaves the president’s policies open to resistance from the city government.

Oh, who has led Seoul on and off for 20 years, is a two-time presidential aspirant and is considered by political analysts a likely contender for the presidency in 2030. Lee, elected last year, can serve only one five-year term.

Former military site

The site near the Han River was designated to become a public park after more than a century as a military base. It was first used by Japanese colonial occupiers and later by the United States, South Korea’s major postwar ally.