"Confused Inevitably" Some Ruling Party Members Criticize Moon Administration's 'Real Estate Measures'

Nowungrae "'Pushing the Opposition' Is Not the Answer... Majority Rule Violence Is Also a Problem"
Jujinhyung Criticizes Real Estate Policy "Administrative Capital Relocation... Smoke Screen"

President Moon Jae-in is having a "The People Ask, 2019 Dialogue with the People" at MBC in Sangam-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of November 19 last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] As the so-called three lease laws, including the amendment to the Housing Lease Protection Act, have passed the National Assembly, some members of the ruling party are voicing criticism of the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies, such as the push-through style of bill processing and the futility of relocating the administrative capital.

On the 30th, Representative Noh Woong-rae, who is running for the Supreme Council member election in the Democratic Party's August 29 convention, criticized the National Assembly's real estate legislative process, saying, "While physical violence by a minority is a problem, the violence of majority rule by the majority is also a problem."

In an interview on the same day with Buddhist Broadcasting System radio program 'Park Kyung-soo's Morning Journal,' Representative Noh said, "Having 176 seats does not mean to push through by force but to work by drawing cooperation from the opposition party," and added, "The current situation is by no means desirable."

He continued, "Pushing the opposition party is not the solution," and said, "If the ruling party holds the main responsibility for state administration, it must not give up efforts to draw cooperation from the opposition party."

He also emphasized, "The United Future Party must fight in a way that produces results and solves problems to gain public support," and said, "The ruling party should have the taste of listening and accepting, and the opposition party should have the taste of following." He added, "When the opposition party comes into the National Assembly and fights, it should do so healthily so that there is room to gain public support."

Regarding the recent decline in the Democratic Party's approval ratings, he claimed, "The biggest problem is the skyrocketing real estate prices," and said, "The multiple home ownership by high-ranking public officials and the sluggish response to the Mayor Park Won-soon issue have had an impact."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

While Representative Noh voiced criticism toward his own party, voices criticizing the ruling party's recent push for relocating the administrative capital continued.

On the 30th, Joo Jin-hyung, Supreme Council member of the Open Democratic Party, wrote on his Facebook, "These days, there is an overwhelming amount of bewildering news. The ruling party has brought up the relocation of the administrative capital," and said, "The issue itself is worth discussing, but considering the timing when this suddenly came up, it is suspicious that it emerged as criticism of the government's real estate policy grew."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "However, I do not understand how moving the Blue House and the National Assembly from Seoul to Sejong can induce a drop in Seoul real estate prices," and questioned, "What exactly will change to lower Seoul's real estate prices?"

He added, "There are already countless central government agencies and public institutions that have left Seoul for Sejong City and various parts of the country, but Seoul's real estate prices have skyrocketed in the past three years. No matter how you look at it, this seems like a smokescreen to divert people's attention," suggesting that the background of relocating the administrative capital is a policy to shift public interest because the government's real estate measures are not working properly in the real estate market.

Regarding the government's request for multi-homeowner public officials to sell all but one house, Supreme Council member Joo pointed out, "I do not understand why public officials owning two or more houses are politically criticized and face disadvantages in personnel matters."

He added, "If a newly established administration did this, it might make sense, but the current administration has been in power for three years. The system that allows real estate investment to be profitable has not been properly fixed, and now that public anger is sky-high, are they looking for scapegoats in the wrong places?" he questioned.

Earlier, on the 8th, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters held at the Government Seoul Office to respond to COVID-19, said, "Public opinion is very unfavorable recently due to real estate issues, and although the government is struggling to come up with measures, if high-ranking public officials own multiple houses, it is difficult to gain public trust regardless of the policies announced," and instructed, "Each ministry, including local governments, should promptly identify the housing ownership status of high-ranking public officials and take measures to enable multi-homeowners to sell their houses as soon as possible."

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