Oh Se-hoon proposes to use rapid COVID-19 test kits at cabinet meeting

At his first cabinet meeting as the new mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon proposed to use rapid COVID-19 test kits and improve the housing listing price system.

“There were some debates at the meeting. I hope we can have close discussions with the Seoul metropolitan government on how to improve shortfalls and such,” Oh said at a press briefing held at the Seoul City Hall following the cabinet meeting in the morning of Tuesday.

“Rapid test kits have relatively lower accuracy. However, they can reduce infections as those infected with the virus without symptoms can be detected,” he explained. The mayor of Seoul is the only head of a local government who attends cabinet meetings. The Tuesday meeting lasted for about an hour at the Central Government Complex.

He took a step back from the previous stance of calling for fully examining and freezing the listing prices of housing, which is in confrontation with the government’s stance. “As expected, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs continues to stand its ground. We discussed a further negotiation based on the existing laws regarding a suggestion to share the right to calculate listing prices between local government and the ministry,” said Oh. “The problem is not the increase of listing prices – it is the speed at which they are increasing. Listing prices jumped almost 20 percent already. I hope they will make a well-rounded decision in consideration of the impact of increasing listing prices on households.”

　

A former doctor and now as an acting member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Shin Hyun-young positively viewed Oh’s proposal for Seoul’s mutually beneficial disease control efforts, saying that the mayor’s suggestion is in line with what she has been insisting.

“Disease control measures should be reasonable to minimize opposition or resistance,” said Shin during a phone interview with the Dong-A Ilbo. “(As Oh argued,) a structure of communication should be set up at each business site to amend what is irrational and develop reasonable guidelines.”


Seng-Hyun Kang byhuman@donga.com · Min-Woo Park minwoo@donga.com