Noh Hyung-wook "Apologies for Housing Price Instability... Will Definitely Achieve Real Estate Market Stability in the New Year"

With the Spirit of 'Bangusipri,' We Strive Without Losing Focus
Supporting Youth to Keep Dreaming of Owning a Home Without Discouragement
Continuous Internal Innovation at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport... Committed to Restoring Public Trust

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyun-wook emphasized, "In the new year, I will do my best with the determination to definitely achieve stability in the real estate market."

On the 31st, through his "2022 New Year's Address," Minister Noh stated that he will not relax his vigilance and will fulfill his duties to the end with the spirit of 'Ban-gu-sip-ri (半九十里)' to bring hope to the people. Ban-gu-sip-ri is a phrase from the Book of Songs (Shijing) that describes a person who, having traveled ninety li out of a hundred, still considers they have only covered half the distance.

Minister Noh said, "We have worked to realize housing stability for the people by firmly establishing the policy direction of expanding housing supply, protecting actual demanders, and strengthening housing welfare," but added, "I feel sorry to the people for not fully achieving housing price stabilization."

He continued, "Stabilizing housing prices is an important task to restore the ladder of hope for future generations," and explained, "Fortunately, along with the efforts to expand supply so far, macroeconomic changes such as interest rate hikes and household debt management have contributed to most market indicators showing stability in the housing market."

Minister Noh emphasized, "We will firmly implement the promised housing supply of about 460,000 units and the mid- to long-term plan to supply 2.05 million units, so that the housing market will no longer be overheated due to a shortage of supply," and added, "In particular, we will strive to help young people, who are facing difficulties due to COVID-19, to nurture their dream of owning a home without being discouraged by housing problems."

As the President emphasized at the opening ceremony of the Southeast region railway project on December 28, ultra-wide area cooperation is a very effective strategy to decentralize growth hubs and alleviate concentration in the metropolitan area through linkage and cooperation among metropolitan governments.

He also stressed focusing more on balanced national development. He said, "We will support regions to take the lead in establishing ultra-wide area plans and foster hubs where talent, capital, and jobs gather by region," and added, "We will actively support balanced development through infrastructure construction so that strong small regions such as Gangwon, Jeonbuk, and Jeju can compete with the metropolitan area."

Furthermore, "We will revise construction safety-related laws to prevent workers from losing their precious lives at industrial workplaces, and significantly expand the personnel and scope of on-site inspections," he said. "We will also strengthen management of traffic safety vulnerabilities and create a pedestrian-centered environment to establish a traffic safety system at the level of advanced countries."

He promised to continue efforts for internal innovation to gain public trust. Minister Noh said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been making internal innovation efforts since last year, but I believe it is still insufficient to meet the public's expectations," and added, "We will continue to strive to become an institution that is more trusted by the people."

He concluded, "The new year is a turning point for the government," and said, "At times like these, I pledge to uphold my duties as a public official without any lapse, to think about what is for the people, and to silently devote myself to work with only the people in mind."

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