President Moon Visits Rental Housing with Kim Hyun-mi and Byun Chang-heum

President Moon Jae-in is conducting an "On-site Inspection of Desirable Rental Housing" on the morning of the 11th at the Dongtan Public Rental Housing complex, commemorating 1 million LH rental housing units in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, together with Kim Hyun-mi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (left), and Byeon Chang-heum, nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (third from left, current LH president). 2020.12.11 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 11th, President Moon Jae-in visited a public rental housing site along with Kim Hyun-mi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Byun Chang-heum, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the next Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport candidate. It is unusual for a current minister and a next minister candidate to accompany the president on an external schedule simultaneously.

At around 11 a.m. that day, President Moon visited the 'Hwaseong Dongtan Happy Housing Complex' in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, toured the interior of the housing, and encouraged residents and related personnel. Candidate Byun Chang-heum personally explained the complex to President Moon. The Blue House explained regarding President Moon's schedule, "It reflects the policy will and direction to develop public rental housing not only quantitatively but also qualitatively, aiming to become 'public rental housing where anyone wants to live.'

The Hwaseong Dongtan Happy Housing Complex is a site where LH began construction in 2017 to commemorate the achievement of supplying 1 million long-term public rental housing units, and it was completed last June. The government plans to supply a total of 2.5 million public rental housing units (cumulative) including LH and local public corporations by 2025. The related budget was also increased from 14.5 trillion won this year to 16.6 trillion won next year.

After touring the duplex and two-room type housing, President Moon emphasized, "We should not build such specialized housing limited to some parts, but fundamentally improve the quality of public rental housing, expand the supply of spacious and pleasant housing, and make it a place where anyone wants to live." He then moved to the daycare center located within the complex to listen to a report from Minister Kim. Minister Kim announced plans to expand public rental housing targeting the middle class, enhance living convenience facilities, and spread mixed complexes of sale and rental housing. She also conveyed plans to additionally supply 63,000 medium-sized housing units by 2025.

Meanwhile, candidate Byun has not yet undergone the National Assembly's confirmation hearing and appointment procedures. Nonetheless, criticism has arisen that accompanying the president on an external schedule disregards the National Assembly's verification process. When President Moon received a confidential briefing from Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, on the 8th, he also supported by saying, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance should make special efforts to fully consult on the supply plan envisioned by the new minister candidate." The Blue House explained, "The schedule was confirmed before the announcement of the next minister candidate."

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