Real Estate 3 Acts and Follow-up Laws for the Corruption Investigation Office Passed in Plenary Session... 'Choi Sook-hyun Act' Also Clears National Assembly Hurdle (Comprehensive)

Bill Forced Through Despite Opposition, United Party Abstains from Voting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyemin and Lim Chunhan] Follow-up bills related to the establishment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gong-su-cheo) and bills strengthening regulations on multi-homeowners were passed in the National Assembly plenary session on the 4th, led by the Democratic Party of Korea.

The National Assembly held a plenary session at 2 p.m. that day and processed all 18 bills, including the amendment to the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax (Jongbu-se) Act.

◆ Follow-up bills for Gong-su-cheo passed smoothly = At the plenary session, follow-up bills for the Gong-su-cheo Act, including the Personnel Hearing Act, the amendment to the National Assembly Act, and the establishment of the operating rules for the candidate recommendation committee for the Gong-su-cheo chief, were approved. With these bills passing the National Assembly, Gong-su-cheo has met all conditions for its launch. The candidate for Gong-su-cheo chief must go through a personnel hearing in the National Assembly, and the standing committee responsible for Gong-su-cheo has been designated as the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

The establishment of the candidate recommendation committee's operating rules includes provisions that the Speaker of the National Assembly can request committee member recommendations in writing from negotiation groups within a set deadline, and each negotiation group must recommend members within the requested deadline.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Real estate bills pass National Assembly after ruling and opposition debate = Tax law amendments related to real estate, which strengthen tax burdens on multi-homeowners and multi-homeowner corporations, were also approved at the plenary session that day. Accordingly, for multi-homeowners, acquisition, transfer, and comprehensive real estate taxes related to housing will all increase.

The capital gains tax surcharge rate applied when a person owning two or more houses in regulated areas sells a house has been raised by 20 percentage points for two-homeowners and by 30 percentage points for those owning three or more houses. If a house is transferred within less than one year of ownership, a capital gains tax rate of 70% applies, and cooperative member move-in rights and pre-sale rights are also included in the housing count.

Taxes on corporate housing capital gains will also increase. The additional corporate tax rate was raised from the current 10% to 20%. The core change in the Comprehensive Real Estate Tax Act is the increase of the tax rate for those owning three or more houses and two-homeowners in regulated areas from the previous 0.6?3.2% to 1.2?6%. Additionally, acquisition tax rates of 12% (currently 1?3%) apply to those owning three or more houses and corporations, and an 8% rate applies to two-homeowners. The acquisition tax rate on housing gifts has also been strengthened: if a person owning two or more houses gifts a house with a publicly announced price of 300 million KRW or more in a regulated area, the recipient must pay a gift acquisition tax rate increased from the previous 3.5% to 12%.

The ruling party also passed the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act, which mandates reporting of real estate transactions such as monthly rent and lease. Accordingly, when a monthly rent or lease transaction occurs, the details of the lease contract must be reported to the local city, county, or district office within 30 days. Other bills that passed the National Assembly include the Local Tax Special Cases Restriction Act, which provides acquisition tax reductions for first-time homebuyers; the Special Act on Vacant Houses and Small-scale Housing Maintenance, which relaxes floor area ratio regulations when supplying public rental housing in small-scale housing maintenance projects; and the Act on the Recovery of Excessive Profits from Reconstruction, which clarifies the subjects liable for reconstruction charges.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Sports violence prevention law passed by bipartisan agreement... Disease Control Headquarters upgraded to 'Agency' = The 'Choi Sook-hyun Act' (amendment to the National Sports Promotion Act), aimed at preventing widespread violence and verbal abuse in the sports community following the death of the late triathlon athlete Choi Sook-hyun, was also passed that day.

The bill focuses on investigating human rights violations in sports, protecting victims, and strengthening preventive education. The disqualification period for sports instructors who commit violence such as sexual assault has been significantly extended from one year to five years, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's obligation to supervise violence conditions has been strengthened.

The amendment to the Government Organization Act, which upgrades the Korea Disease Control Headquarters under the Ministry of Health and Welfare to an independent 'Agency,' was also passed at the plenary session. With this bill's approval, the Korea Disease Control Headquarters, previously a vice-ministerial agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be able to exercise authority related to budget, personnel, and organization as an independent central administrative agency.

The United Future Party abstained from voting on the follow-up bills for Gong-su-cheo and real estate-related bills but participated in the voting on the other bills.

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