Byeon Chang-heum: "Housing policies cannot be evaluated solely based on whether house prices rise"

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee Byeon Chang-heum is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 23rd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum rebutted criticism that the Moon Jae-in administration's housing policy failed by triggering a surge in housing prices, stating that the rise in housing prices cannot be the sole indicator for evaluating housing policy.

At the confirmation hearing for the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held at the National Assembly on the 23rd, in response to a question from Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, asking how he evaluates the current administration's real estate policy, nominee Byun said, "Whether housing prices rise or not cannot be the only criterion for evaluating housing policy."

Earlier, when he was president of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), nominee Byun attended a plenary session of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee in August and responded to Song's question, "Among the Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye, and Moon Jae-in administrations, which administration had the best housing policy?" by saying, "I think the Moon Jae-in administration did the best."

In response, at the hearing that day, Song pointed out that according to the Korea Real Estate Agency's Seoul apartment sales price index, the rate of change fell by 9.19% during the Lee Myung-bak administration, rose by 11.94% over 4 years and 1 month during the Park Geun-hye administration, and increased by 14.15% over 3 years as of May during the Moon Jae-in administration, asking, "Can you still say that this administration had the best housing policy among all administrations?" Nominee Byun replied that housing policy cannot be evaluated solely based on the rise in real estate prices.

Apartment Price Change Rates by Administration (Data=Korea Real Estate Board) [Image Source=National Assembly Broadcast System]

Song further pointed out that according to statistics as of November, following the May statistics he cited earlier, "the apartment price increase rate in Seoul rose by an additional 2.09 percentage points during that period," and criticized, "Due to the Moon Jae-in administration's housing policies such as the Three Lease Laws, punitive heavy taxation on housing, and various transaction regulations, a disastrous situation has unfolded across South Korea over the past six months."

In response, nominee Byun said, "The rise in real estate prices is undoubtedly very painful for ordinary citizens and also causes frustration for those planning to purchase homes in the future," adding, "If appointed as minister, I will do my best to supply affordable housing and resolve these issues."

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