'2.6 Billion Jeonse Living' Lee Hye-hoon "I Have Also Been a 15-Year Homeless Person" Controversy... Public Outrage 'Boiling'

Former Lawmaker Expresses Hardships of Jeonse Living in 'Kyunghyang Shinmun' Interview
"On Days I Receive Calls from the Landlord, I Can Barely Eat"

Former Future United Party lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former Future United Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon, who declared her candidacy for next year's Seoul mayoral by-election, sparked controversy after expressing the hardships of being a non-homeowner. This came as criticism arose over the fact that Lee is residing in a rented apartment in Banpo with a jeonse deposit worth 2.6 billion KRW.

The problematic remarks were made during an interview with Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 5th. On that day, Lee explained her reason for running in the Seoul mayoral by-election as "to solve housing problems."

Lee said, "Housing is the most important issue in people's lives. If housing is unstable, everything becomes unstable," adding, "But the Moon Jae-in administration has driven up housing prices like this. It is too despairing to realize that with my salary, I can never buy my first home in my lifetime."

She continued, "I wanted to give 'opportunities for non-homeowners and those from humble backgrounds to save their salaries and buy a house.' Having lived as a non-homeowner for 15 years, the days I receive calls from landlords are hard to swallow food. Changing this situation is the mayor's duty," she emphasized.

However, some netizens criticized Lee's remarks, saying they could not sympathize. Although Lee claims to have lived as a non-homeowner for 15 years, it was pointed out that the jeonse deposit for the apartment she resides in is enough to purchase a home in Seoul.

The Banpo Raemian Prestige apartment in Seoul, where Lee is known to reside, is a high-priced residence, with the current jeonse deposit reported to be 2.6 billion KRW.

In the property declaration data for new members of the 20th National Assembly disclosed in August 2016, Lee reported the same apartment's jeonse right at 2.1 billion KRW.

Additionally, the total declared assets registered by Lee and her husband amounted to 6.5214 billion KRW. This sum includes the apartment's jeonse right, three commercial properties, and bank deposits.

Meanwhile, according to the 'Monthly Housing Price Trends' released by KB Kookmin Bank on the 7th, the average sale price of large apartments (exclusive area over 135㎡ or 41 pyeong) in Seoul as of last month was 2.1077 billion KRW. This means that Lee's jeonse deposit alone is sufficient to purchase a large apartment.

As a result, some netizens criticized her as being a "non-homeowner only on the surface."

Netizens posted critical comments on Lee's Facebook and other social network service (SNS) accounts, such as "Can someone living in a 2.6 billion KRW jeonse apartment truly understand the plight of ordinary citizens without homes and suffering from the jeonse crisis?", "Someone with assets of 6.5 billion KRW should not be making such remarks," and "These statements are tantamount to mocking the people."

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