Kim Seonghwan: "One Rental Registration Business Owner Owns 760 Units"…Top 20 Own a Total of 7,000 Units

Vacant stores have been steadily increasing in major commercial districts due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Myeongdong, Seoul's representative commercial area, is in a serious condition with 4 out of 10 stores empty. According to the "2021 Q1 Commercial Real Estate Lease Trend Survey" released by the Korea Real Estate Board, the vacancy rate of medium to large stores in Myeongdong was recorded at 38.4%. Rental inquiries, temporary closure, and business termination signs are posted on Myeongdong shops.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The top 20 real estate rental registration business owners possess 7,000 properties, with one individual owning 760 properties.

On the 28th, Kim Seong-hwan, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and stated, "We need to verify further, but according to statistics, there is a case where a single real estate rental registration business owner owns as many as 760 properties," indicating that the issue of real estate rental businesses is being reconsidered. He also revealed that the total number of houses owned by the top 20 ranked individuals exceeds 7,000.

Deputy Floor Leader Kim emphasized, "Leaving such situations as they are and implementing other policies?does that align with social justice? From that perspective, the Real Estate Special Committee will first address the rental business issue to ensure housing serves as a means of residence rather than speculation."

He added, "The intention is to give hope to the homeless, protect single-homeowners, and reasonably restrain multi-homeowners through taxation. The Real Estate Special Committee plans to incorporate these measures. For single-homeowners, we will conduct precise simulations on how to effectively realize the official property price adjustments."

Regarding the comprehensive real estate holding tax (종합부동산세, Jonghap Budongsanse), he said, "Discussions will take place, but it is not a primary agenda." This aligns with the statement by Policy Committee Chairman Hong Ik-pyo, who mentioned postponing it. However, a decision is planned before the tax imposition in November.

Deputy Floor Leader Kim stated, "There has been talk about raising the comprehensive real estate holding tax threshold from 900 million KRW to 1.2 billion KRW early in the Real Estate Special Committee discussions, which has made it seem like the focus of the debate is there. However, the committee plans to examine how the taxpayers subject to this tax are actually distributed."

He continued, "The property tax imposition is in June, and the comprehensive real estate holding tax is in November," adding, "There is not much time left to decide on the property tax." He further noted, "It seems acceptable to take a closer look at the comprehensive real estate holding tax and make policy decisions later."

When asked by the host if postponing means it only needs to be done before the November imposition rather than in the first half of the year, Deputy Floor Leader Kim replied, "That is partly the case," and added, "The Real Estate Special Committee’s work should focus on policies that reduce deepening polarization rather than managing policies that expand polarization again."

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