Oh Se-hoon’s days in the political wilderness are well behind him. He was re-elected Seoul mayor on June 1, becoming the first person to win a fourth non-consecutive term. Oh can now claim to have the democratic authority of residents behind his quest to fundamentally transform the city’s urban fabric and nurture its global business potential.

Having run on a platform of promising to fix real estate problems as fast as possible, Mayor Oh vowed in his inauguration speech to stabilize the housing market “using all possible policy methods.” Identifying housing as the most critical challenge facing Seoul’s 10 million or so residents, he pledged that his administration would build high-quality rental housing, targeting low-income and economically vulnerable populations, young couples and single-person households. 

But the mayor has yet to elaborate on how he will achieve these aspirations, or how he plans to expand affordable housing while not displacing existing residents or commercial tenants. Oh also has not explained how he plans to square any of this with a pro-business agenda that he says will transform Seoul’s international competitiveness.

On the one hand, Oh admits that rapid development has resulted in widening wealth inequality and social exclusion. On the other, he has committed to normalizing rapid redevelopment by expediting approval processes and loosening building restrictions. 

Of course, urban development is not bad per se; it has the potential to bring social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits. But the path to creating a sustainable future must be managed carefully, with sensitivity to preserving the space and memories of those residents and business owners who made Seoul what it is today. 

Recently vacated commercial units at Banpo Jugong 1 Danji in the foreground with Zone 3 apartment blocks in the background, Aug. 2022 | Image: Korea Pro

Walking across different neighborhoods in Seoul and its surrounding satellite cities reveals the extent to which redevelopment has already changed the cityscape. One does not have to look hard or long hard to see development projects of varying magnitudes and consequences, from Banpo Jugong 1 Danji — which introduced apartment condominium living to south-central Seoul in the 1970s — to “jjokbang” villages and clusters of multi-family homes on the edges of Sillim and Nowon and one of the nation’s oldest apartment buildings in Seodaemun.

This is just a taste of what is to come as Oh and his counterparts in nearby cities push to deliver their transformation agenda. 

The Jongno and Jung wards north of the Han River best epitomize the challenges of profit-driven demolition-renewal in Seoul. These areas form the core of economic and social life in the central part of the city. Oh’s eyes have been set on redeveloping Eulji, Jong and Toegye avenues into something akin to glitzy Gangnam since his first term in the mayor’s office. 

Back then, the last well-preserved sections of Pimatgol, a 2.5-kilometer alley that had been home to hundreds of traditional restaurants, was razed to make way for shiny new high-rises. Now, he wants to establish a high-density business district that will connect with the technology complex and transportation hub he has envisioned for Yongsan and Yeouido’s financial and investment banking district. 

North of the Cheonggye urban stream, at the southwest corner of Jongno 4-ga junction, is the Sewoon District 4 Urban Redevelopment Zone. Construction, which was slated to begin in the first half of 2009, is finally getting off the ground. Since the 1960s, when merchants began setting up shop, the area was known as Yeji-dong “Clock” Alley as it was filled with hundreds of small businesses specializing in clock and watch repair.

Clock Alley with messages from displaced merchants, June 5, 2022 | Image: Korea Pro

Today it is surrounded by steel panel fences chalked with Sharpie-written phone numbers of displaced merchants. Demolition work has proceeded rapidly this summer, reducing most of the old buildings to rubble. 

A ten-minute walk from what used to be Clock Alley is Euljiro 3-ga, a neighborhood that was the heart of the city’s manufacturing industry in the post-war era. It is a place where old industry and youth culture converged in recent years thanks to alleyway bars, like Eulji OB Bear, where laborers used to head after work for beer and dried fish. After 42 years, Eulji OB Bear was violently evicted by hired muscle this April. 

Meanwhile, the long-time tradespeople and their suppliers in Euljiro are beginning to trickle out of their garage-sized factories and shops under the threat of eviction. While some have been able to relocate temporarily, others have been forced to scatter outside the city core to the periphery and surrounding Gyeonggi Province, with urban landlords unwilling to accommodate dirty manufacturing work. 

As they fall like dominoes, the area’s unique industrial heritage is put further at risk of not being able to sustain itself. From metal spinners to tool and hardware sellers, each is a cog in an ecosystem where every business is dependent on the local supply chain for survival. 

Squished between Clock Alley and Euljiro 3-ga is the Seun Electronics Commercial Center, the oldest mixed residential, industrial and commercial complex in the country. 

Conceived by renowned architect Kim Swoo-guen as a multilayered “city within a city,” there was nothing better than this concrete mega-structure on the local housing market in the late 1960s. The city’s movers and shakers moved into Seun Center, while others flocked to buy the latest electronics and related components. 

Cranes build new apartment complexes near Seun Sanga, July 2022 | Image: Korea Pro

Unfortunately, Seun’s heyday was short-lived. It faced rapid decline due to the establishment of the Yongsan Electronics Market and the outflow of wealthier residents during the Gangnam apartment boom. 

During Mayor Oh’s first term in 2006 the site was rezoned with a landmark 150-story skyscraper initially proposed for development. By the end of 2007, the proposal was revised to a whopping 220 stories, but tenants’ grievances over their financial stake in the project and concerns from cultural heritage bodies pushed the city to scrap its Seun demolition plans by 2013. The city only succeeded in demolishing the Hyundai Shopping Mall, at the northern end of Seun, in 2009.

By 2017, under then-Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Seun was given a new lease on life; extensive remodeling was undertaken to transform it into a hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This attracted startups, architectural firms, young artists and other creatives, who would complement the wide array of vendors selling electrical components and appliances. 

Fast forward to today, and Seun stands in the face of the wrecking ball once more, as do many of the old buildings surrounding it. Under Oh’s recently announced Green Urban Space Recreation Strategy, the vision of “coexistence” between super-skyscrapers and urban forests is du jour again. Oh is discussing the easing of building height limits and floor area ratios in earnest, as well as plans for green pedestrian and parks, possibly at least one for every block. 

Having failed to develop the discussed areas during his first term, Oh is determined to get it done this time around. Still, he faces opposition from grassroots community and civic groups who are fighting forced evictions, pushing back against redevelopment-induced gentrification and attempting to preserve what little of “old Seoul” remains.

Borrowing a phrase from London’s Sadiq Khan, Mayor Oh vowed in his inauguration speech to foster a city that is both “socially diverse and inclusive.” If he is serious about this statement, he would be wise to consult with those who will be most affected by his grand vision and make a sincere effort to minimize the hardships they will suffer because of it.

Edited by Arius Derr