Lee Jae-myung "Real Estate Policy, Growing Public Distrust... Due to Excessive Real Estate Holdings by Policy Makers"

"It is not desirable for high-ranking officials to own residences other than their primary housing"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung held a press conference on the afternoon of the 28th at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government briefing room in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, announcing the comprehensive real estate measures for Gyeonggi Province. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who strongly recommended that public officials of grade 4 and above and executives affiliated with the Gyeonggi Provincial Government dispose of all residential properties except for one primary residence by the end of the year, stated that this decision was made "to resolve the public's distrust toward policy decision-makers."

On the afternoon of the 28th, Lee appeared on MBC Newsdesk and said, "There is public skepticism about whether real estate policies are properly formulated and properly enforced," adding, "The biggest cause of that distrust is the fact that policy decision-makers hold excessive real estate."

He continued, "The public sees this as evidence that housing prices are rising," and pointed out, "Fundamentally, if those who have a significant influence on policy decisions own a lot of real estate themselves, they inevitably tend to create policies favorable to real estate owners, leading to unearned income from real estate."

Lee emphasized, "It is undesirable for high-ranking officials, especially those who can influence urban planning or road development related to real estate, to hold properties for speculative or investment purposes beyond their primary residence."

During an online briefing on 'Gyeonggi Province Real Estate Measures' held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government office that afternoon, Lee warned that public officials of grade 4 and above and executives of public institutions who own multiple houses must dispose of all non-primary residences by the end of the year, or they may face personnel disadvantages such as demotion, transfer, or poor performance evaluations.

He also stated that if multiple homeownership is unavoidable due to unavoidable reasons, it must be resolved within six months from the date the reason arises.

He explained the reason for this recommendation, saying, "To realize President Moon Jae-in's accurate diagnosis and conviction that 'people should not be able to make money from real estate' and to calm the real estate frenzy, we must create and implement meticulous policies with high public acceptance. Although it is difficult to create fundamental measures due to the limitations of local government roles, we have prepared several major real estate measures for Gyeonggi Province with the determination to do whatever is possible to prevent ruinous real estate speculation."

At the same event, Lee also claimed, "The real estate problem in our country is not caused by a shortage of housing," and added, "Housing is adequately supplied, but many people who do not actually reside in them own too many properties for investment or speculation purposes."

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