Shim "Is 920,000 won in comprehensive real estate tax a bomb while owning a 3 billion won house?"... Yoon "That's a big exaggeration"

Shim "Even combined property taxes are about half of young people's monthly rent for a year"
Yoon "Not abolition, but a call for reasonable change"

Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea, Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Party, Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party, the presidential candidates from both ruling and opposition parties, are posing ahead of the first debate hosted by the National Election Commission held at MBC in Mapo-gu, Seoul on the 21st. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, criticized Yoon Seok-yeol, the candidate of the People Power Party, saying, "Is 920,000 won in comprehensive real estate tax (종부세) a bomb when buying a 3 billion won house?" She criticized Yoon's pledge to abolish the comprehensive real estate tax.

On the afternoon of the 21st, at the first presidential candidate TV debate hosted by the National Election Commission, Candidate Sim asked Yoon, "Do you remember how much comprehensive real estate tax you paid?" When Yoon replied, "You mentioned it before, so I checked once and it seems like I paid a few million won, but I forgot," Sim retorted, "You paid 920,000 won. Is 920,000 won in comprehensive real estate tax a bomb for a 3 billion won house? Did your house collapse because you paid 920,000 won?"

Candidate Sim said, "During the campaign, you said, 'People who own a 2 billion won house are not rich. The tax takes it all away,' but according to the National Election Commission data, you live in a house with an official price of 1.55 billion won and a market price of about 3 billion won."

She added, "Even including property tax, it's about 4 million won. Young people renting monthly or yearly in Seoul pay about 8 million won a year in rent. (Yoon) pays only half of that," and criticized, "A person who wants to be president should know that taxes are a citizen's duty. They are shared in the spirit of community maintenance, but you are defining paying taxes as evil as if the state is robbing people. Is it right for a presidential candidate to define the state as a robber?"

In response, Yoon said, "The current administration's real estate policy is wrong, causing house prices to soar, and many people who retire and own only one house without additional income should be considered," adding, "I am not saying to abolish the comprehensive real estate tax, but to combine it with property tax, and if someone has a mortgage on their house, it is reasonable to change the way taxes are uniformly imposed."

Candidate Sim pointed out, "I understand you represent the wealthy, but saying the state took everything is spreading false information. What law and what sentence will govern this?" Yoon responded, "Even though this is a TV debate, you are exaggerating a lot."

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