United Future Party Abstains from Lease Law Vote: "Entering the Path to the Disappearance of Jeonse"

Opposing Debate by Jo Su-jin: "Politicization of Real Estate"
Yoon Hee-sook's 5-Minute Speech: "Causing Great Confusion, Not Protecting Landlords"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin and Jeon Jinyoung] As the amendment to the Lease Protection Act, aimed at protecting tenants, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 30th, members of the United Future Party abstained from voting. However, they participated in the opposition debate during the plenary session, pointing out issues with the bill's content and the passage procedure.

The amendments to the Housing Lease Protection Act and Commercial Building Lease Protection Act, which cleared the National Assembly hurdle that day, focus on the introduction of a 'limit on rent increases' and a 'right to request contract renewal.' Tenants can request an additional two-year contract after the existing two-year contract ends, and the rent increase is capped within 5% of the previous contract rent, with local governments setting the ceiling through ordinances. This bill was rapidly processed by the Democratic Party of Korea at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee the day before.

On the same day, United Future Party lawmakers Jo Sujin and Yoon Heesook criticized the bill and its processing through opposition debate and parliamentary procedure remarks, respectively.

Lawyer Jo, a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, focused her criticism on the Democratic Party's forceful handling. She said, "Before the Legislation and Judiciary Committee even started, the National Assembly's electronic system already showed that the bills the ruling party intended to process had been handled. The ruling party tried to execute it like a military operation," adding, "There was no subcommittee review or pros and cons debate. The ruling party completely ignored all procedures, claiming that there are no mandatory provisions within the National Assembly Act."

She added, "If the Democratic Party defines the previous and the one before last administrations as deep-rooted evils and targets for liquidation, shouldn't they show a completely new image?" and criticized, "The current ruling party is doing things that even the military regimes never did. Who is the real deep-rooted evil?"

Jo argued, "The Housing Lease Protection Act sounds nice by name, but once you peel back a layer, problems become apparent. Already, jeonse prices have risen by tens of millions to billions of won, and the number of monthly rent houses is increasing," calling it "a harmful law for people's livelihoods that makes it impossible for ordinary people to dream of owning a home or even live in jeonse."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lawmaker Yoon began by identifying himself as a 'tenant who moved in last May' and meticulously pointed out the problems with the bill.

He said, "If you ask whether I felt good about the bill voted on today, the answer is no. What came to my mind was that after four years, I would inevitably have to switch to monthly rent, and that jeonse would disappear," adding, "The rental market is very complex, and landlords and tenants must coexist. If landlords are disadvantaged to protect tenants, landlords will either raise prices or leave the market."

Yoon emphasized, "Does that mean I oppose tenant protection? Absolutely not, I support it," and pointed out, "The government must bear the burden. The moment landlords become afraid to rent out their homes, the market will collapse."

He explained, "Korea's jeonse system is a unique system not found anywhere else in the world. During the high-growth era, landlords used lump sums and interest rates, and tenants used it as an opportunity for savings and home ownership," adding, "That balance has continued until now, but with the low-interest-rate era, the jeonse system has already entered a path of extinction. Nevertheless, many people still prefer jeonse, but because of this law, it will inevitably enter the path of extinction very quickly."

Yoon questioned, "When market confusion and the jeonse crisis appeared, can the ruling party really say it was an irresistible force? Can they say they did not predict it?" He added, "When the lease contract was raised from 1 year to 2 years 30 years ago, it was only increased by one year, but in 1989, rent rose by 30% compared to the previous year, and in 1995, it rose by 25%," and criticized, "Is it okay because this time it is capped at 5%? In the current situation where interest rates are only 2%, even if I were a landlord, I would not rent out but tell my children to live in the house."

He stressed, "When making laws that affect the lives of 10 million people in Korea, we must at least check what problems we have not thought of. That is what the subcommittee review process is for," and criticized the processing procedure, saying, "If this review process had taken place, we would have examined what incentives to give landlords so they are not afraid, how to consider elderly landlords, and whether wealthy tenants paying tens of billions in jeonse should be protected in the same way."

Yoon raised his voice, saying, "With what kind of audacity and arrogance do they make this law without checking? Those who made the law and the Democratic Party, which proceeded without subcommittee review, will be remembered for a long time," adding, "They will be remembered in the history of Korea's real estate policy and people's livelihoods for a long time."

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