[Reporter’s Notebook] Did the Anti-Speculation Measures Consider Unintended Harm?

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] "The issue is not land transactions under one year, but the problem lies in speculation using insider information." "Is the logic that holding non-business land long-term is also considered speculation? Now, beyond disappointment, anger is rising."

These are posts that appeared on a real estate community of an internet portal site after the government announced measures to eradicate real estate speculation and prevent recurrence on the 29th. The core of the government's measures is, in short, to fundamentally block the inflow of speculation itself.

The problem is that the measures being prepared to prevent speculation by public officials contain provisions that cause unintended harm to innocent parties. In fact, non-business land, for which capital gains tax can rise up to 70%, is mostly owned by absentee landlords who do not reside locally. According to government statistics, as of 2015, the proportion of land owned by non-farmers among nationwide 'farmland' reached 43.8%.

However, it is difficult to regard all of this as speculation. Since registered farmers have shrunk to 7-8% of the total population, most absentee landlords are currently having their land farmed by local acquaintances or agricultural corporations on their behalf. But going forward, with capital gains tax becoming too heavy, it will be difficult to hold land without directly engaging in farming or forestry. Even acquiring land for weekend farms has become difficult. This could potentially paralyze farmland transactions altogether.

The 2030 generation, who sought to secure their own homes with residential officetels (apateul) instead of apartments, also oppose the measures. This is because the Loan-to-Value ratio (LTV) regulation on non-housing secured loans may apply not only to land but also to commercial buildings, officetels, and others. In particular, officetels, which are relatively affordable and have become a major housing means for the 2030 generation, are caught in the crossfire of regulations. A netizen who is still single expressed frustration, saying, "This is why the number of singles is increasing. Who would dare to marry? They are blocking all ways to live!"

Eradicating real estate speculation and corruption has been a policy stance upheld since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in government. However, it should not be forgotten that the core of this issue was not simple speculation by ordinary people but speculation by public officials well-informed with insider information.

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