"Government Officials Receiving Special Supply in Sejong City Earned 500 Million KRW Per House"

Kyungryeolyeon Announces Analysis of Special Privileges for Sejong City Officials
Average Sale Price 310 Million KRW → Current Average Market Price 820 Million KRW
"House Prices Soared Due to Administrative Capital Relocation Discussions, Turning Special Privileges into Unfair Benefits... Must Be Abolished"

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] An analysis by the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) revealed that public officials who received special housing allocations due to the rapid rise in housing prices in Sejong City gained unearned income exceeding 500 million KRW per unit. The CCEJ stated, "The main culprit of public officials' unearned income is the government's and ruling party's immature development policies," and demanded, "Completely abolish the special supply system that has turned into a privilege."

On the 5th, the CCEJ held a press conference at their auditorium in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to disclose the results of their analysis on the scale of special supply privileges for public officials in Sejong City. The subject included 127 complexes and 26,000 households supplied from 2010 to May of this year. The CCEJ analyzed the price difference using the sale prices of these complexes and the KB Real Estate market prices as of May.

The analysis showed that the average market price of special supply apartments in Sejong City, which were sold at an average price of 310 million KRW, has now reached 820 million KRW, according to the CCEJ. The market price rose to 2.6 times the sale price, resulting in a price difference of 510 million KRW per unit.

The CCEJ stated, "Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook and Vice Minister Yoon Sung-won, despite owning houses in Gangnam, sold their Sejong City special supply units and made profits of several hundred million KRW," adding, "A significant portion of the price difference likely turned into unearned income for public officials who benefited from the special supply."

The special supply for public officials was introduced to stabilize housing for officials who are required to relocate forcibly to Sejong City for national balanced development. However, the CCEJ argues that the immature development policies of the Moon Jae-in administration and the ruling party caused housing prices to skyrocket, turning the special supply into a privilege.

Comparing the increase in apartment prices in Sejong City by administration, the Moon Jae-in government overwhelmingly outpaced the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations. For example, the first village complexes 1 and 3 in Hansol-dong, first sold in October 2010, rose from a sale price of 270 million KRW to a current market price of 880 million KRW. Of this increase, 500 million KRW occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration, which pledged to relocate the administrative capital. The Lee Myung-bak administration saw a 30 million KRW increase, and the Park Geun-hye administration an 80 million KRW increase.

Among the 127 complexes, the one with the highest price increase was Saeteum Village Complex 14 in Saerom-dong, sold in 2014. Its market price rose to 1.43 billion KRW, up 1.04 billion KRW from the sale price of 390 million KRW. Following were Saeteum Village Complex 11 at 930 million KRW, Dodam Village Complex 14 in Dodam-dong at 870 million KRW, Saesaem Village Complex 7 in Sodam-dong at 820 million KRW, and Saeteum Village Complex 6 at 810 million KRW, in descending order of price increase.

The CCEJ claimed that prices surged intensively after Kim Tae-nyeon, then floor leader of the ruling party, announced plans to relocate the National Assembly and the Blue House to Sejong City during a parliamentary negotiation group speech last year. In fact, among the 26,000 special supply households, the market price of 14,000 households that have completed move-in rose by an average of 520 million KRW since sale, with 68% or 360 million KRW of that increase occurring last year.

The CCEJ criticized, "The ruling party, ignoring fundamental measures to curb housing prices in Seoul, pushed immature development policies disguised as 'national balanced development,' failing to control Seoul housing prices while sharply raising Sejong housing prices, resulting in trillions of KRW in unearned income for public officials with special supply privileges." They added, "The government and ruling party, which promoted the Sejong City relocation without establishing a development profit recovery system, are the main culprits of public officials' speculation."

The CCEJ demands a full reconsideration of the administrative capital relocation to Sejong City and the presentation of fundamental measures to stabilize housing prices. They also call for the immediate abolition of the special supply system nationwide, which has turned into a means of unearned income for public officials. The CCEJ stated, "The National Assembly should investigate whether special supply public officials actually reside in their units, own multiple homes, or engage in resale, uncover speculation and illegal resale, and impose strict penalties."

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