President Moon Jae-in presided over a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, with newly-elected Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon – the only participant from the opposition conservative bloc – in attendance for the first time. 

The first encounter between Moon and Oh drew keen attention as it came after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's loss in last week’s mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan, dealing a crushing blow to the president and his administration. 

“Unlike earlier speculation, the atmosphere was friendly overall. Both the president and the mayor were respectful to each other throughout the meeting,” a senior Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity. 

Due to COVID-19, Cabinet meetings have been held online for almost a year, except on some special occasions. On Tuesday, Moon presided over the meeting from Cheong Wa Dae, while Oh joined from the city government complex, about a 10 minute-drive away from the presidential office. 

The Seoul mayor, the nation’s second most powerful elected leader next to the president, is technically not a Cabinet member, but attends the meeting along with Moon’s chief of staff, and his top security and policy advisers. He has no voting rights. 

Both Moon and Oh face steep challenges for the next one year, with many critics calling the opposition bloc’s landslide win last week a referendum on the current administration rather than a full endorsement of the new mayor. 

Moon, who enters his final year in office in May, strives to win back public support amid mounting anger over the government’s unpopular housing policies and a series of irregularities committed by his key allies. 

Meanwhile, Oh has only one year and three months to prove his competency for reelection next year, with the central government and the city council being occupied by the ruling liberal bloc. 

Even though tense exchanges did not defineTuesday’s meeting, some discrepancies were exposed between Oh and attending ministers in their views toward containing COVID-19 and soaring housing prices – the two most urgent issues that dominated the by-elections. 

Oh suggested adjusting social distancing rules for Seoul, especially for smaller merchants hit hard by the prolonged pandemic, citing the adoption of more convenient and quicker self-testing kits as key measure. 

Outside of selective use by medical workers, no such kits have been approved due to efficacy issues. Health authorities are also skeptical about easing social distancing rules as they fear the recent surge in new cases could trigger a fresh wave of infections. 

The mayor who has hinted at easing regulations on real estate development, also asked to revise related laws on government-fixed prices of apartments in Seoul, which serves as the base prices for taxation. 

Ministers agreed on the necessity to adjust the base prices, especially in the Seoul metropolitan area that has seen a rapid jump in housing prices, but were cautious about immediate adjustments considering the taxation scheme should be applied fairly to nationwide. 

Since Oh’s election, prices in potential redevelopment districts have already been soaring on expectations about deregulations.

Concluding the meeting Moon said "I think the brief responses are not enough for better communications. The city government and related government offices should continue discussions even after the Cabinet meeting."  

“Seoul makes up the largest part of the COVID-19 response and the housing issue. Addressing the Seoul issues can be the starting point for the nationwide solution. All government offices need to work together with the Seoul city government.”

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)