Mayor seeks 'balanced growth' for Seoul

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon speaks during a press luncheon in Samyang-dong, northern Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

By Lee Suh-yoon

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon reaffirmed his commitment to “balanced growth” in the country's capital, Wednesday, 17 days into his temporary stay in a rundown neighborhood.

“Taking a walk around by myself, I often find unfamiliar scenes that less developed areas like Samyang-dong are facing now,” Park told reporters at a luncheon near his temporary lodging in Samyang-dong, located in the northeastern fringes of Seoul, Wednesday.

“This area used to have corner shops, dressmaking boutiques, electronics repair shops and small restaurants. However, they are all gone, with mostly chaebol-run franchises including a big Lotte retail mart lining the main road.”

He added: “You can really see how Korea's 99-to-1 society encroaches on the neighborhood's local economy.”

Park, a third-term Seoul mayor and potential candidate in the 2022 presidential election, moved into a dingy, un-air-conditioned rooftop apartment last month.

Park pledged to spend one month during his mayoral campaign in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, so he could experience life at the bottom and reaffirm his drive to ensuring more equitable development throughout the city.

Closing the widening gap between Gangnam, the more developed area of Seoul south of the Han River, and Gangbuk, the northern half of the city, is one of Park's main campaign promises.

To this end, he has pledged to collect real estate-based profits and redistribute the money into developing less privileged neighborhoods.

Park also addressed the death of one of his neighbors, located days afterward in a building right by Park's own lodging.

“There should be no lonely deaths in the city. The news has given me another task to think about,” Park said at Wednesday's press luncheon. “Though the cause of his death is not clear yet, we should not let individuals be subject to a harsh disconnection from society, as the community-centered lifestyle falls apart in Seoul.”

Apart from posting photos on Facebook of himself clinking soju glasses with residents and sweeping up the neighborhood in his pajamas, Park has ordered fixes for cracked roads and gas pipe access for 200 households at the top of the hill.

He plans to present a detailed blueprint for the city's “balanced” urban regeneration on Aug. 19, when his one-month stay ends.

Some praised his efforts, saying he lived up to his name as a "grassroots-centered mayor." Others, however, have mocked it as a political stunt wasting taxpayers' money.