Woo Sang-ho: "President Moon's remarks are not about living in public rental housing for life... It's about saving up to move to a better home"

"There Are Vulnerable Groups Struggling to Buy Homes... Government Should Intervene from a Welfare Perspective"

Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who declared his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election in April next year, is giving an interview at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 14th. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, explained regarding President Moon Jae-in's so-called 'public housing remarks,' saying, "When did the president ever say to live in public rental housing for life?" He added, "The idea is to live here for a certain period, accumulate resources, and then move to a better house."

On the 15th, Woo appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "Public rental housing is not designed for lifelong residence," adding, "Living in public rental housing does not mean you should never buy a house and live there forever. For those without money, it's a starting point."

Regarding President Moon's visit to a rental house with an exclusive area of 44㎡ (13 pyeong) and his comment that "a family of four could live here," Woo said, "He asked, 'This is nice, how many people can live here?'" He continued, "He said, 'This is clean enough. Let's build many like this to help vulnerable groups.' It's a warm message, but if you say 'You should live in public rental housing,' that's a typical distortion."

In response to the question, "There are criticisms that building many rental houses makes it impossible to own a home," Woo emphasized, "Even if housing prices haven't risen that much, there are vulnerable groups who find it difficult to buy a house immediately," adding, "What the government really needs to intervene in is the vulnerable groups from the perspective of housing welfare."

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at the 'Desirable Rental Housing' briefing held on the morning of the 11th at Dongtan Public Rental Housing, a commemorative complex for 1 million LH rental homes in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province. / Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, Woo diagnosed the situation where the housing market has not stabilized despite 24 real estate measures since the Moon Jae-in administration began, saying, "It is not easy to overcome the desire and greed to use real estate as an investment tool to gain great wealth."

He said, "We wanted to prevent a surge in housing prices or jeonse prices in total, but there is a balloon effect," adding, "If you block here, it goes there; if you block there, it comes here. That's how it has come to this state."

Earlier, on the morning of the 11th, President Moon visited the Dongtan joint rental housing complex, a commemorative site for 1 million rental houses by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. When Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister nominee Byun Chang-heum, who accompanied the visit, explained, "If there are two children, two desks can be placed for studying together," President Moon said, "One person is standard for newlyweds, but two young children can also be accommodated."

However, this remark by President Moon sparked criticism from the opposition. Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min wrote on his Facebook the next day (the 12th), saying, "You should live in public rental housing," criticizing, "Ordinary people have dreams of owning their own homes, but the president told them to give up such 'foolish dreams.'"

He added, "The 'president's ladder' is a family of four and a pet living in a 13-pyeong public rental, then moving to 18-pyeong and 25-pyeong public rentals," he pointed out.

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