Eonju Lee: "LH Innovation? Feels Like It's Going Nowhere... Mocking the Angry Public Twice"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Lee Eon-ju. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Soyoung] Former People Power Party lawmaker Lee Eonju sharply criticized the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) restructuring plan, saying, "It is utterly pathetic. It is like mocking the outraged public twice."

On the 22nd, Lee posted on his Facebook, "LH claims to be innovating, but it seems they have forgotten why such discussions arose in the first place and are heading in the wrong direction," expressing his criticism.

Earlier, the government proposed three options regarding the LH organizational restructuring. Subsequently, on the 20th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport presented to the National Assembly that the third option?vertically separating LH’s organization into a parent corporation for the housing welfare sector and a subsidiary corporation for land and housing development?is the most rational plan.

In response, Lee questioned, "I wonder if they have any thoughts on what caused the LH incident, why the public is dissatisfied with LH, and how the government should lead housing policies to stabilize housing prices."

He pointed out, "Why did the LH incident occur? Isn't it because they forcibly acquired Greenbelt land at absurdly low prices, then sold land and apartments at low development costs, profiting from land development and sales, which led employees to speculate using development information?"

He continued, "They seem to have forgotten the purpose of public housing policy and mistakenly think this is about general management evaluation or management innovation consulting," adding, "The purpose of public housing policy is to stabilize housing prices. It should be sold cheaply to make it easier for ordinary people to own homes and to lower the average market price."

He further stated, "If they make excessive profits from development and cover those profits with rental losses, the public sector will only end up releasing land compensation funds unnecessarily and stirring up excitement over large-scale development sales, which will only raise housing prices," diagnosing, "Simply increasing supply does not have a significant effect on lowering housing prices."

He also advised, "The practice of cross-subsidizing rental losses with development profits must be stopped. The public sector should no longer focus on making profits from the people. Public land with low development costs should be developed and sold at appropriate prices based on cost to lower housing prices and stabilize housing."

Lee said, "The deficit in the housing welfare sector must be compensated separately by the budget," but warned, "If that happens, the organization will become even larger rather than innovating, which could lead to criticism that there is no justification for restructuring. Ultimately, the housing welfare function should be compensated by the budget, and since the development function is all with local government urban development corporations, it should be transferred and drastically downsized. Only then will there be a justification for innovation."

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