People Power Party: "Jin Sun-mi Should Resign, Kim Hyun-mi and Yoon Sung-won Must Be Dismissed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Members of the People Power Party's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee demanded the resignation of Jin Sun-mi, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee Chairperson from the Democratic Party, who sparked controversy by saying "abandon the illusion of apartments," as well as the dismissal of Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi and First Vice Minister Yoon Sung-won.

On the 24th, the People Power Party's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee members stated in a press release, "Officials from the Moon Jae-in administration, driven by a thorough ideological and confrontational calculation that 'the homeless will forever support the Moon Jae-in government,' have promoted asset polarization and pressured the homeless to give up on owning a home and be content with public rental housing."

The committee members pointed out the verbal missteps of ruling party figures, saying, "A resident enjoying various amenities in a newly built large-scale apartment complex with 1,900 households located in a prime area, visited a public rental housing site and was told by Chairperson Jin, 'There are three rooms, and compared to the apartment I currently live in, there is no difference at all. Abandon your illusions about apartments.' Minister Kim said the hotel-room rental housing policy is 'receiving very positive responses,' and Vice Minister Yoon, who made more than double the market price gain from a special supply apartment for public officials in Sejong City, spouted the absurd argument that 'the three lease laws are a growing pain our economy must endure at least once.'"

The committee members added, "Senior officials of this government are uniformly unable to empathize with the bitter hearts of the people, instead driving nails into them, treating the people as subjects to be enlightened, and forcibly demanding they endure oppressive policies unconditionally." They said, "We demand that Chairperson Jin, who caused the people’s hearts to bruise with her harsh words and hypocritical behavior, resign immediately, and that Minister Kim and Vice Minister Yoon be dismissed at once."

Below is the full text of the statement.

We believe that the most precious dream of the people of the Republic of Korea in this era is the most basic human desire: 'to live in one’s own home.'

However, the Moon Jae-in administration, under the pretext of helping ordinary citizens, created imaginary speculators and repeatedly implemented anti-market regulatory policies dozens of times, which ultimately only caused housing prices to skyrocket, trampling on the hopes of citizens who want to live in better environments and leaving ordinary people in more difficult situations.

Eventually, even those who could have secured a home with a little policy support on their hard-earned income were subjected to various regulations, completely blocking their opportunities to own a home and stealing their dreams.

Yet, officials of the Moon Jae-in administration have turned a deaf ear to the desperate cries and outcries of the people asking, "Is this a country?" and, driven by a thorough ideological and confrontational calculation that "the homeless will forever support the Moon Jae-in government," have promoted asset polarization and pressured the homeless to give up on owning a home and be content with public rental housing.

A resident enjoying various amenities in a newly built large-scale apartment complex with 1,900 households located in a prime area was told by Jin Sun-mi, a Democratic Party member and Land Committee Chairperson, just five minutes after visiting public rental housing, "There are three rooms, and compared to the apartment I currently live in, there is no difference at all. Abandon your illusions about apartments."

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi claimed that the government's and ruling party's three lease laws, which most people blame for the jeonse (key money deposit) crisis, have no defects, attributing the rise in jeonse prices to low interest rates, liquidity, and the increase in single-person households, and said the hotel-room rental housing policy is "receiving very positive responses."

First Vice Minister Yoon Sung-won of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport spouted the absurd argument that "the three lease laws are a growing pain our economy must endure at least once," and made more than double the market price gain from a special supply apartment for public officials in Sejong City, despite not residing there.

Senior officials of this administration uniformly fail to empathize with the bitter hearts of the people, instead driving nails into them, treating the people as subjects to be enlightened, and forcibly demanding they endure oppressive policies unconditionally.

Seeing the Moon Jae-in administration officials belittle the people's hopes to live in better environments as illusions and even demand they give up those illusions, the people's faint hopes are turning into despair.

All members of the People Power Party's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee demand the resignation of Jin Sun-mi, the National Assembly Land Committee Chairperson, who caused the people's hearts to bruise with her harsh words and hypocritical behavior, and the immediate dismissal of Minister Kim Hyun-mi and First Vice Minister Yoon Sung-won.

Along with this, we urge the Moon administration to acknowledge its failure in real estate policy that has plunged the people into hardship, apologize to the public, and comprehensively review the rental laws that have devastated the real estate market, demand suppression policies, anti-market financial regulations, tax bombs, and lottery-style apartment sales policies.

The people want only one thing from this government's real estate policy.

That is to calmly return the outdated ideological real estate regulations, which were flawed from the start, back to square one, restore the balance of supply and demand, and stabilize the market so that it flows smoothly according to market principles.

November 24, 2020

All members of the People Power Party Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee

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