Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivered his New Year’s address for 2025 on Tuesday the 31st.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said before delivering his New Year’s address, “I express my deep regret for the Jeju Air passenger plane crash that occurred on the 29th and offer my sincere condolences to the victims and their families.” He added, “The city of Seoul shares the people’s pain and promises to provide all necessary support.”
Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, “Seoul is moving toward becoming a more livable city in 2025,” and looked back on the changes in Seoul that have been made over the past two and a half years of the 8th elected government and presented a vision for the future of Seoul that will be created together with citizens.
He continued, “Although we are currently facing major challenges such as political turmoil, a crisis in international reputation, and economic uncertainty, Seoul is a city that has always turned crises into opportunities,” and showed strong determination, saying, “We will overcome crises with our DNA of innovation and advancement and create a Seoul that is respected by the world.”
First, when he took office as the 8th elected mayor of Seoul in July 2022, he promised citizens that Seoul would change, and he said that he was actually making meaningful changes in various fields and moving towards a more livable city.
He said that Seoul is making a better Seoul based on the special city administration philosophy of supporting the disadvantaged, citing the ‘stepping stone income’, which is receiving worldwide attention for its transformation from ‘welfare that makes it difficult to work’ to ‘welfare that makes it possible to work’, ‘Seoul Run’, a representative project of the ladder of social mobility, and ‘Pre-sale Home’, which aims to solve the low birth rate problem.
He added that the vitality of urban development is being revived by normalizing redevelopment and reconstruction that had been halted for 10 years. He emphasized that the designation period for redevelopment zones was shortened by half through the rapid integration plan, and that the first Moatown project was launched in just 3 years.
In addition, it was revealed that as a result of developing Yongsan Seoul Core, Magok, and Yangjae into global economic hubs and making bold investments in future industries such as AI, the global city competitiveness rose one level from 7th place in 2023 to 6th place in 2024.
Lastly, he said that by practicing transparent governance and honest administration, which are the basics of public service, the city achieved first place in the evaluation of integrity of public institutions for the first time in 14 years and first place overall, thereby restoring citizens’ trust, and that all of this is the image and achievement of Seoul that the citizens and the city of Seoul created together.
In the process of these changes, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has created ‘million-seller policies’ such as the Climate Companion Card, Seoul Outdoor Library, and Seoul International Garden Expo, which have naturally gained sympathy and been chosen as a result of carefully observing the needs of citizens and designing policies with sincerity.
However, he said that there are still high walls to overcome in the reality that citizens face in their lives, such as youth unemployment, housing issues, and poverty rate among the elderly, and showed his firm will, saying, “There is no magic bullet to solve all social problems at once, but as a fundamental cause-based treatment that can breathe life into and restore vitality to society and the economy, we will go beyond ‘regulatory reform’ and begin ‘deregulation’ in earnest to create an environment where individuals can express their creativity.”
Mayor Oh said, “We will wage a war against regulations with the determination to reduce regulatory authority by half this year, including bold measures such as easing the floor limit in the construction industry, by presenting the principle that ‘minimum is best’ in regulations.” He added that while there have been many cases of prosperity through reduced regulations in history, no country has succeeded by increasing regulations, and emphasized that he would breathe a sigh of relief and restore vitality to the economy and society.
Along with this, he promised to continuously expand various policies so that people can enjoy small happiness in their daily lives, such as a green garden on the way to work, a ‘Climate Companion Card’ and ‘Hangang Bus’ that accompany them on the way to work, a book to read at Seoul Plaza during lunchtime, and a break by the Hangang River after work.
He also announced a plan to foster cutting-edge industries such as AI, bio, robots, and creative industries as new growth engines for the future of Seoul. In particular, he said that AI will become the center of future technology following PCs and mobile devices, and that he will work with the government, companies, and universities to build a world-class cutting-edge technology fostering model.
Finally, Mayor Oh concluded by reiterating that “Seoul will become stronger and fly higher when we join hands and work together,” and pledging to look forward to the future of Seoul that we will welcome together.
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