Kim Hyun-mi "It's Sad That People in Their 30s Are 'Yeongkkeul'" vs United Future Party "Disembodied Remarks, Apologize"

Ha Tae-kyung "Panic buying in 30s due to anxiety about having to live on monthly rent for life"

Ha Tae-kyung, member of the United Future Party. Attending the full meeting of the Intelligence Committee held at the National Assembly on the 28th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Controversy has erupted over Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi's remarks regarding the 'panic buying' phenomenon among people in their 30s, where she expressed regret that they "pulled together all their resources ('Yeongkkeul')" to make purchases. Members of the United Future Party sharply criticized her, calling it a "disconnected rhetoric."

On the 26th, United Future Party lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung posted on his Facebook, "You pushed people in their 30s to 'Yeongkkeul' and now you say you feel sorry? Minister Kim, who caused the surge in housing and jeonse prices, should apologize to the 30s of Korea instead of using disconnected rhetoric."

Quoting Minister Kim's 'Yeongkkeul' comment, Ha said, "This is a typical example of disconnected rhetoric. Is it appropriate for the minister of the main ministry responsible for causing the surge in housing and jeonse prices, which has drained the souls of the entire nation, to say this?" He strongly criticized, "The reason people in their 30s resorted to panic buying is because the Moon Jae-in administration turned the real estate market into a battlefield."

He continued, "In our society, it was common for ordinary people to rent a jeonse house when getting married, then in their 40s and 50s, save up jeonse funds, savings, and loans to buy an apartment," adding, "But the Moon administration destroyed this belief and order. Not only did it cause housing prices in the metropolitan area to skyrocket, but it also dried up the jeonse market."

He further pointed out, "Then they even argued that monthly rent is common and normal worldwide, which is a sophism," and claimed, "The reason people in their 30s resorted to panic buying by pulling together all their resources is due to the anxiety of having to live in monthly rent for life. That anxiety was instilled by the Moon administration and Minister Kim."

Ha emphasized, "Minister Kim repeated for three years that 'you will regret buying a house now.' The people who believed those words are now regretting and participating in panic buying," and stressed, "Minister Kim should stop using disconnected rhetoric and ask the public for forgiveness for the surge in housing and jeonse prices and for deceiving people by claiming that housing prices were under control."

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi is responding at the full meeting of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yonhap News

United Future Party Emergency Response Committee member Kim Hyun-ah also criticized on her Facebook the same day, saying, "Those responsible for real estate policy say prices have stabilized, but an article reports that more than half of the transactions in August were new record highs," adding, "You can temporarily hide reality with numbers, but distorting numbers does not change reality."

Kim quoted part of Minister Kim's inaugural speech from June 2017, saying, "It was a speech she gave herself, but either she read it soullessly or she doesn't know what she is doing now," and warned, "Stop mocking the public by throwing numbers around."

Earlier, on the 25th, at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee plenary session, in response to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker So Byung-hoon asking, "Have you heard that rental apartments owned by rental business operators are being transferred to individuals?" Minister Kim replied, "Many housing units owned by corporations and multi-homeowners have been traded, and it appears that people in their 30s are buying these by pulling together all their resources ('Yeongkkeul'). I feel sorry that people in their 30s bought what corporations put on the market by 'Yeongkkeul.'"

Regarding So's demand for strict response to recent real estate-related media reports, she explained, "Real estate-related bills have been passed, and their effects began to take effect from August, so statistics reflecting this will only appear after August. However, the July statistics reported in the media reflect transactions before the law was passed and do not reflect the situation after the law's passage."

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