Ministry of Land and Public Institutions Discuss Real Estate Asset Registration Plans with Related Departments

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyung-wook speaking at a meeting with heads of affiliated public institutions on the 9th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and its affiliated public institutions discussed measures such as property registration for employees in real estate-related departments to restore public trust.

MOLIT announced that Minister Noh Hyung-wook convened a meeting on the afternoon of the 9th at the Government Sejong Complex with heads of affiliated public institutions to discuss measures to enhance transparency in public institutions.

The meeting was organized to discuss and coordinate innovation plans being developed by 28 affiliated public institutions in line with the previously announced MOLIT organizational innovation plan.

In particular, the expansion of property registration requirements for employees of public institutions was the main topic of discussion.

Currently, property registration in public institutions is only required for registered executives, but MOLIT has decided through its prior organizational innovation plan that all headquarters employees must register real estate-related assets.

LH and Saemangeum Development Corporation, which handle real estate-related work, will promote property registration for all employees in accordance with amendments to the Public Officials Ethics Act.

Nine institutions, including the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation and the Korea Real Estate Board, are considering designating real estate-related departments to implement property registration.

MOLIT and its affiliated institutions discussed requiring senior executives above a certain rank to register real estate assets regardless of their department affiliation.

They also held in-depth discussions on restricting real estate acquisitions for purposes other than actual living and strictly managing internal information.

Additionally, these institutions are reviewing transitioning to an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management system to strengthen the social responsibility and transparency of public institutions.

During the meeting, MOLIT shared the results of the 'Model Transaction Model' pilot projects currently underway at four affiliated institutions: LH, Korea Expressway Corporation, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Korea Railroad Corporation, aimed at realizing a fair economy.

Incheon Airport has implemented airport fee reductions, and Korea Railroad Corporation has improved compensation for delays on regular trains to the level of high-speed rail, among other measures under the model transaction system.

Participating institutions pledged to take the lead in eradicating unfair practices that disrupt fair market order, such as unjust reductions in construction costs, abuse of bargaining position, and preferential subcontracting to subsidiaries.

Minister Noh emphasized in his opening remarks, "To receive proper evaluation from the public and survive, we must not be complacent with existing methods but boldly reform all work practices, methods, and policy implementation to meet the standards of a changed world."

Meanwhile, MOLIT plans to support the sharing and dissemination of excellent innovation tasks discussed at this meeting. Final innovation plans tailored to each institution’s characteristics, reflecting the meeting’s discussions, will be submitted by the end of this month, and the implementation status of organizational innovation plans will be regularly monitored.

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