Won Hee-ryong: "Moon lacks both real estate problem-solving skills and empathy... Must correct with regime change"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Won Hee-ryong, the opposition presidential candidate and Governor of Jeju Province, criticized President Moon Jae-in's remark about '13-pyeong rental housing for a family of four' on the 14th, saying, "It shows not only a lack of ability to solve real estate problems but also a lack of empathy," and added, "This must be corrected through a change of government."

On the same day, Won pointed out on his Facebook, "Unless the government is changed, errors will be repeated and contradictions will continue."

He sharply criticized, "The Moon administration's real estate policy was a predictable failure, similar in context to the failure of income-led growth. President Moon and the Blue House's '586 generation' view the market as an object of control and are under the illusion that they can perfectly control it. This attitude of perceiving economic issues as a battle with the market is common among many Democratic Party politicians, including Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung."

Won also criticized President Moon's directive to provide 'lifetime housing' and Governor Lee's 'basic housing' as "not only inconsistent with economic theory and common sense but also completely detached from reality." Governor Lee has emphasized the necessity of promoting 'basic housing,' arguing that "due to high housing prices, disposable income is spent on loan repayments, leading to reduced consumption, demand shortage, economic recession, and low growth."

In response, Won stated, "Since the Moon administration began in May 2017, housing prices in Seoul have risen by nearly 30%, and the one-year Treasury bond interest rate has dropped from 1.45% to 0.7%. If someone bought a house with a loan at the start of the Moon administration, the house price would have increased by 30%, but the loan interest burden would have been halved. Understanding this as a phenomenon where demand shortage occurred because disposable income was used to repay loans is a severe case of dyslexia."

Won said, "Governor Lee claims that 'actual demand combined with speculative and fear demand caused housing prices to skyrocket,' but housing prices are rising because the government-induced supply shortage stimulates speculative demand, and the government's flawed revision of the lease protection law has caused jeonse prices to soar. All the measures introduced have failed, yet instead of correcting them, the government only proposes long-term public rental housing and tax increases as alternatives," raising his voice.

He emphasized, "Rental housing is a system that allows residents to live at a cost lower than market price, and it incurs costs. The greater the benefits and the more people who receive them, the astronomical the costs become. Rental housing policy is merely a housing welfare policy and cannot be a fundamental real estate policy." He added, "The moment you live in rental housing, you cannot buy a house, and by the time you have to move out, housing prices will have already risen too much."

Won criticized, "Because the measures introduced create bigger problems, the government clings to wrong prescriptions, fearing responsibility. Claiming that long-term rental housing policies, which are like applying pain relief patches to a broken bone, will cure the disease is a typical populist behavior that seeks popularity with sweet words but avoids responsibility."

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