Yoon: "Risk of Real Estate Hard Landing... Demand Regulations Must Be Boldly Lifted"

Ministry of Land and Ministry of Environment Work Report... "Should Not Be Perceived Through Politics and Ideology"
"Strong Punishment" for Jeonse Fraud, "Government Purchase and Lease" Proposed for Unsold Units

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Seok-yeol instructed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 3rd regarding housing issues, saying, "The risk of a hard landing is increasing due to rising interest rates," and urged, "Please boldly and swiftly ease demand-side regulations." In particular, President Yoon mentioned the recent large-scale Jeonse fraud case, ordering "strong punishment," and proposed that the government purchase unsold housing units to rent them to vulnerable groups.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the same day, at a briefing session with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Environment held at the Blue House State Guest House, President Yoon mentioned this improvement direction, saying, "Past governments regarded real estate and environmental issues as political and ideological matters."

Pointing to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Environment, President Yoon urged, "They should be considered ministries for the people's livelihood, not regulatory ministries, and work should be based on expertise and science rather than politics and ideology." This was based on the judgment that if housing and environmental issues are addressed politically, the people will ultimately suffer.

Accordingly, President Yoon said, "The government should only manage to the extent that housing prices can rise and fall predictably." The judgment was that if the government approaches from an ideological perspective, the market will be distorted, and eventually, housing supply will be hindered due to regulations on both demand and supply sides.

This is also why he emphasized regulatory reform. President Yoon stated, "Our government respects market principles and has tried to significantly ease and lift such regulations, but if the pace is too fast, our people cannot make predictable plans, so we actually controlled the speed. However, recently, due to rising interest rates, the risk of a hard landing rather than a soft landing has increased, so demand-side regulations must be boldly and swiftly eased."

He also mentioned the growing public anxiety over Jeonse fraud following the recent 'Villa King' incident. President Yoon requested that there be no shortcomings in areas such as victim recovery, legal support, and strong punishment.

Regarding the Metropolitan Area Express Railway (GTX), he instructed the swift progress of each section. President Yoon said, "The GTX-A line's Suseo~Dongtan section must be opened first by early next year, the B line must begin construction early next year, and the C line should be promptly advanced to start construction within this year." For the D, E, and F lines, he asked to prepare preliminary feasibility studies and aim for approval within his term.

Regarding the Ministry of Environment, he urged cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to "swiftly restore the nuclear power ecosystem." President Yoon added, "Our nuclear power contributes to carbon neutrality," and requested, "Please drastically innovate related regulations so that our companies can pioneer the global decarbonization market."

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