[Interview] "'Real Estate Price Disclosure Act' Proposed as No. 1"... Economic Expert Elected by Gangnam 'Minshim'

Interview with Yoo Kyung-jun, Elected Member of the United Future Party for Gangnam B

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] "The Moon Jae-in administration's 'class conflict policy' has gone too far. During this election campaign period, many people lamented, 'Is living in Gangnam a crime?' I think the dissatisfaction with a government that is doing 'politics' rather than 'economic policy' combined with expectations for me as an economic expert led to my election."

Yu Kyung-jun, an economic expert and former head of the Statistics Korea, who was elected as the Future United Party representative for Gangnam-byeong, said in an interview with Asia Economy on the 23rd, "Rather than the joy of winning, I feel a heavy responsibility on how to overcome the situation of the United Party and how to break through South Korea's economic difficulties."

In this general election, except for the so-called 'Gangnam Belt' area and Yongsan where he belongs in the Seoul region, the United Party had to drink a bitter cup. Voices of reflection such as 'we failed to read the changes of the times' also emerged within the party. Elected representative Yu said, "The United Party's reform and change did not meet the public's expectations. The incomplete conservative unification was also one of the causes of the crushing defeat," adding, "The incomplete conservative unification did not give the public confidence, and for this reason, we could not present a reasonable alternative to the current government's policy failures," expressing self-reflection.

However, he also sees the ruling party's economic failures being overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the factors. He said, "If the economic failures of this government are revealed without any concealment in the future, the people will properly judge them."

His plan is to first propose the 'Real Estate Price Disclosure Act' upon entering the National Assembly. Yu said, "Looking at this year's official price plan, the nationwide increase rate is only 6%, but the increase rate in Gangnam is 26%," adding, "In the case of Gangnam-byeong, the official prices of Mido and Eunma Apartments rose by about 40% in one year, and since the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration, the holding tax (property tax + comprehensive real estate tax) that residents of Mido and Eunma Apartments have to pay has tripled." Under current law, the official price can be arbitrarily set by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport without the consent of the National Assembly or the public. Yu said, "This violates the principle of tax legality stipulated in Article 59 of our Constitution, which states that 'the items and rates of taxes shall be determined by law,'" and added, "Upon entering the National Assembly, I will propose a revision bill of the 'Real Estate Price Disclosure Act' as my first bill to realize the reduction of official prices and holding taxes."

His diagnosis is that if the '180-seat ruling party' and the government maintain the existing economic policy, the economic situation will worsen further. Yu said, "After three years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the economy has fallen as far as it can because there were no proper policies for growth and all policies focused only on distribution through handouts," adding, "In our country, which is based on liberal democracy and market economy, if corporate investment activities are excessively regulated, the sources of growth and employment disappear."

Yu pointed out that it is important to prepare for the period after COVID-19. He said, "The problem is after COVID-19," and added, "Political strife should stop, and for now, rapid support should be provided, but unnecessary support should be recovered and insufficient support increased through post-evaluations such as year-end tax adjustments. This is a wise approach."

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