[Reporter’s Notebook] "Where and How Should We Endure and Wait Through the Jeonse Crisis Inconvenience?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon]

"Is it reasonable to ask us to wait when we have nowhere to move to right before the harsh winter?"

This was a post on a real estate online community bulletin board after Kim Sangjo, Chief of the Blue House Policy Office, appeared on a terrestrial broadcast on the 2nd and said that transitional jeonse instability could last longer and asked people to "please wait even if it is inconvenient." The post questioned where, how much, and how people who are suffering from having no place to move to immediately should endure and wait.

On that day, Kim emphasized "waiting" and mentioned several measures. These included converting vacant apartments and detached houses into jeonse, remodeling commercial spaces and offices into residential units for supply, and also activating private rental housing and expanding jeonse supply from public institutions such as Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).

However, the market responded that these measures are neither new nor fundamentally solving the problem. The project to convert vacant commercial spaces in urban areas into residential use was already mentioned in the August 4 real estate measures but mostly involves supplying housing for single-person households such as one-room units, which is far from addressing the apartment jeonse shortage.

Supplying vacant apartments as jeonse is also difficult to satisfy the demand of those looking for jeonse homes due to school districts or workplaces, considering that most vacancies are located in suburban areas. It is also ironic that the government, which has shrunk the private rental market through successive regulations, is now mentioning the activation of private rentals.

The industry had already feared a large-scale jeonse crisis when the government introduced measures such as the right to request contract renewal, the jeonse and monthly rent cap system, and the reduction of benefits for registered rental business operators. Now, three months after the policies were implemented, the confusion is growing. Nevertheless, the government still seems unable to find alternatives other than saying "please wait" or "we will stabilize it at all costs." On the same day, Yoon Heesook, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Kim, saying, "Telling the people to 'wait even if it is inconvenient' is an arrogance that a public official serving the country should not have."

Kim, known as the control tower of real estate policy, has expressed confidence in market stabilization every time a major measure was announced. After the December 16 measures last year, he diagnosed that "the rise in jeonse prices is slowing," and even after the implementation of the Lease Protection Act, he expressed hope that "if policy efforts continue consistently, the jeonse and monthly rent market will stabilize." However, in the end, his words have become empty promises. If no solution can be found no matter how much one looks, it would seem more honest to issue a proper apology to the public even now.

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