Minister Noh Hyung-wook: "Prioritizing 'Stable Housing for Ordinary People' as the Foundation for Market Stability"

First Meeting in About 50 Days Since Inauguration on May 14
"With a Mindset to Understand Public Sentiment, Innovating Public Ethics and Communication"
"Focusing All Capabilities on Organizational, Policy, and Industrial Innovation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] "Above all, we will prioritize ‘housing stability for the common people’ based on market stabilization."

On the 5th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook made this statement at his first press briefing since taking office, held at the Government Sejong Convention Center in Sejong City, emphasizing, "We will create tangible results that the public can feel through internal innovation."

On the same day, Minister Noh said, "The best way to alleviate the housing anxiety of the people is to establish a stable foundation that allows continuous housing supply," adding, "We will steadily implement the 2.4 Plan to dramatically expand housing supply in urban areas based on a close cooperative system with local governments."

To this end, the ministry plans to review measures that allow early realization of housing supply achievements, such as conducting pre-subscription for the 3rd New Towns, which are of high interest to newlywed couples in the metropolitan area, starting with the Incheon Gyeyang district from the 15th, aiming to supply more than 30,000 units within the year. Additionally, previously announced public housing sites will be supplied without delay through cooperation with local governments, and 130,000 new public housing units, whose announcements were delayed due to speculation investigations, will be announced sequentially after the end of August.

He stated, "To protect safety and lives at construction sites, we will consider effective policies that can actually be implemented on-site rather than simply strengthening existing regulations or penalties." For demolition work, the ministry plans to improve systems focusing on on-site compliance by analyzing issues at each construction stage, establish a continuous monitoring system involving public participation, and conduct special on-site inspections. Furthermore, illegal subcontracting will be addressed through a large-scale survey to identify root causes, and fundamental measures will be established to block them. The ministry will also promote a joint construction safety campaign with the industry and government, and ensure the thorough implementation of significantly expanded on-site inspections this year.

Minister Noh said that to innovate the land and transport industry, a strategy to expand BIM (Building Information Modeling), the key to digital innovation in the construction sector, will be prepared. In the logistics sector, efforts will be made to transform it into a high value-added industry through the creation of digital logistics pilot cities, establishment of smart logistics center certification systems, and development of e-commerce logistics complexes.

In particular, he emphasized, "The courier industry, which has become an essential industry, will be actively supported for qualitative growth that embraces its workers," adding, "Since a social agreement to prevent courier drivers’ overwork was reached on the 22nd of last month among online shopping malls and other cargo owners, the courier industry, consumer groups, the National Assembly, and the government, we will spare no effort to ensure faithful implementation on the ground."

Alongside this, Minister Noh also announced active promotion of reducing traffic accident fatalities, balanced national development, and expansion of transportation infrastructure.

He stressed the attitude of ‘listening to gain hearts (以聽得心, icheongdeuksim).’ Minister Noh said, "Given the heavy responsibilities of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, I am well aware that past policy implementations did not always meet the public’s expectations," adding, "We will prioritize ‘public service ethics innovation’ for internal members, listen carefully to voices from the field, and promote ‘communication innovation’ to win the hearts of the people."

Finally, Minister Noh emphasized, "In the current domestic and international crisis situation, to restore public trust and turn the crisis into an opportunity, we must approach this as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s last chance for survival, with a desperate mindset. Together with voluntary innovation from ministry members, we must pool all wisdom and capabilities to resolve many pending issues," and promised, "We will deliver results that the public can feel based on the changes our government has pursued so far."

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