Yoon Raises "Abolition of Comprehensive Real Estate Tax," Seems Unaware of Who It Targets... 1.7% of the Entire Population, Tax Cut for the Wealthy

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Democratic Party of Korea criticized Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, regarding his pledge to "completely reconsider the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax (종합부동산세, 종부세)," saying, "He is speaking without any knowledge of the history of the 종부세," and added, "He is listening to the voices of those advocating tax cuts for the wealthy."

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is attending a press conference hosted by the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club (SFCC) at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 12th, answering questions from reporters. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

On the 15th, after the morning Central Election Committee meeting, Senior Spokesperson Ko Yong-jin of the Democratic Party told reporters that Yoon seemed unaware of who the specific targets of the 종부세 are.

Senior Spokesperson Ko explained, "The 종부세 payment threshold was raised from 900 million won to 1.1 billion won through bipartisan agreement, and as a result, taxation on single-home households has been halved, now affecting less than 1.7% of the entire population." He added, "I wonder if Candidate Yoon is aware of this," and emphasized, "The majority of the 종부세 is paid by multi-homeowners."

Previously, Candidate Yoon pledged to completely reconsider the 종부세. On the 14th, he stated, "Even though the number of taxpayers is small, the 종부세 is a problematic tax," and added, "I will consider integrating the 종부세 into the property tax or exempting single-homeowners from the 종부세." Although this has drawn criticism as a 'tax cut for the wealthy,' it is interpreted as a statement aimed more at capturing votes from those dissatisfied with the current administration's real estate policies.

The Democratic Party, which criticized Yoon's pledge to abolish the 종부세, will discuss the 'Capital Gains Tax Reform Bill' at the National Assembly on the same day. The main point is to ease the capital gains tax exemption threshold for single-homeowners from the current 900 million won to 1.2 billion won.

On this day, Senior Spokesperson Ko said, "From today, the Tax Subcommittee will convene at the Finance Committee to discuss capital gains tax," and added, "The Democratic Party will push this forward as party policy to adjust the tax burden."

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