Seoul City Bolsters Housing Supply and Tailored Support with Ninth Administration’s Organizational Restructuring

Mayor Oh Se-hoon Implements Organizational Restructuring to Fulfill Pledges
Supporting Youth Growth and Self-Reliance... Ensuring Everyday Safety for Citizens
Collaboration with City Council Planned... Implementation Set for July 20

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will expand and reorganize the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Housing Office to break ground on 310,000 housing units by 2031. The city will also establish a new Housing Welfare Division dedicated to supporting vulnerable groups and a Youth Housing Division to provide a stable residential foundation for young people.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended a seminar hosted by the Future Innovation Forum of Korea held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 24th and gave a lecture on the topic "Diagnosis of the June 3 Local Elections and Future Tasks - Restoration of Conservative Values and the Future." 2026.6.24 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 24th, following his successful re-election, Mayor Oh is pursuing a prompt organizational restructuring to secure administrative momentum for the 9th term of the municipal government. The plan aims to improve the quality of life for Seoul citizens and lay the foundation for Seoul to become a top-three global city. The main features of the organizational reinforcement plan for the 9th term include: establishing a foundation for key projects, strengthening support for vulnerable populations, supporting youth growth and independence, and enhancing citizen safety.

Restructuring the Housing Office to Expand Supply... Customized Support by Group

First, the city will reorganize the Housing Office to restore the housing ladder, targeting both the supply of 310,000 housing units by 2031 and support for vulnerable groups, thereby promoting residential innovation that citizens can directly experience. The Housing Policy Division will oversee both public and private-led housing supply, while the Strategic Housing Supply Division will be reorganized into the Moa Housing Division to revitalize low-rise residential area housing supply. In addition, the newly established Housing Welfare Division will serve as a single point of contact for tailored housing support by generation and by group, focusing on vulnerable populations.

The Youth Housing Division will also be established within the Housing Office to provide a stable housing foundation for future generations such as young people and newlyweds. The city will create a one-stop support system for youth housing, ranging from the supply of specialized housing for each generation, such as Safe Housing, to housing-related financial support including monthly rent assistance.

The Economic Office will also be strengthened to realize "Seoul Tour-nomics," which aims to revitalize the regional economy through the tourism industry, and to enhance the competitiveness of the K-culture industry. The Creative Industry Division will be reorganized as the K-Culture Strategy Division, which will add new projects based on K-pop, operate the Seoul Arena, and establish support facilities for popular music, supplementing the existing video, media, and performance businesses.

Furthermore, the Advanced Industry Division will be renamed the AI Strategic Industry Division, with plans to upgrade the artificial intelligence transformation (AX) ecosystem and establish an "AI Tech City," positioning Seoul as a leading global city for AI innovation.

Comprehensive Welfare Initiatives... Youth Support Focused on 'Growth'

To prepare for a super-aged society, the city will establish a Seoul-style integrated care system by reorganizing the Senior Welfare Division into the Senior Society Response Division and the Care Welfare Division into the Integrated Care Division within the Welfare Office. A new Senior Support Division will be established to oversee welfare services such as livelihood support, nursing, and protection for vulnerable elderly populations.

The functions of the Stepping Stone Income project, which targets low-income and crisis households, will be transferred to a team within the Welfare Policy Division, the main division of the Welfare Office. The city also plans to launch "Stepping Stone Income 2.0," which will go beyond traditional income supplementation to strengthen the foundation for self-reliance among vulnerable groups.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon is speaking at the Special Inspection Meeting for Summer Measures held at Seoul City Hall on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

To help middle-aged citizens prepare for a second stage in life, the city will establish a Middle-aged Support Division within the Lifelong Education Bureau, thereby setting up a support system for reemployment and social participation for those in their 40s and 50s.

The Youth Growth Support Team (for grades 4 and 5) will be newly established within the Future Youth Planning Office to provide young people with work experience such as internships and opportunities for AI utilization and growth, shifting the focus of youth policy from welfare to growth. The city will further advance key youth employment projects such as Seoul Young Careers and the Youth Employment Academy and establish a one-stop support system for youth to utilize and grow with AI.

Strengthening Safety Management Functions... Mayor Oh: 'Building an Organization to Support City Administration'

Dedicated functions for managing everyday citizen safety will also be reinforced. To strengthen urban infrastructure safety management, the Safety Supervision function of the Disaster and Safety Office will be enhanced to establish a permanent and in-depth safety supervision system covering all aspects of urban infrastructure.

In addition, to prevent the recurrence of construction site safety accidents and shoddy construction, the Safety Management Division of the Urban Infrastructure Headquarters will be reorganized into a Safety and Quality Management Office reporting directly to the head of the headquarters, which will oversee the safety and quality management of facilities.

To comprehensively manage pedestrian and road traffic safety, a new Everyday Traffic Safety Division will be established within the Transportation Office, which will be responsible for managing everyday traffic safety, including improving protection zones for traffic-vulnerable groups and accident-prone locations.

Mayor Oh stated, "In the 9th term of the municipal government, our core projects promised to citizens must produce tangible results. We will accelerate urgent projects such as housing supply and youth growth support, and ensure that important issues such as urban infrastructure safety and integrated care are thoroughly addressed by building an organization that supports city administration without any gaps."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to closely cooperate with the newly formed city council on broad organizational restructuring at the bureau and department level that requires ordinance amendments. Through the revision of the "Seoul Metropolitan Government Organization and Staffing Regulation," the city intends to conduct a legislative notice period from the 25th to the 29th, with the changes scheduled to take effect on the 20th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.