"Repayment of Jeonse Fraud Deposit Requires Public Consent... Must Not Cross the Line"

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong Refutes Opposition's Claim of 'Support First, Reimburse Later'

On the 24th, Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "The government will not set a precedent of first covering the amount lost to fraud and then claiming reimbursement later." However, there are plans to apply measures equivalent to those for current victims to households that have already vacated after auctions due to jeonse fraud.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong visited the Jeonse Damage Support Center in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon on the 24th and spoke at a countermeasure meeting related to Jeonse fraud. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the same day, Minister Won visited the Incheon Jeonse Fraud Support Center located in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, and said, "There are parts that require public consent, and we must not cross the line."

This was a rebuttal to the opposition party's claim of 'support first, then claim reimbursement.' The Democratic Party of Korea plans to push a special law where, if jeonse fraud victims cannot recover their deposits, Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) and others would purchase the claims and compensate the tenants first, then recover the invested funds through auctions, public sales, or sales.

Regarding this, Minister Won said, "If the state is forced to cover the costs first and then recover the funds or not, the state will ultimately bear the burden," adding, "We cannot leave a precedent that the state will solve all fraud crimes in the future."

In response to Incheon City's request to take a progressive view on debt relief and personal rehabilitation policies for jeonse fraud victims, he replied, "Support for low-income finance is not only about jeonse fraud but also many people in difficulty, so we will consider it with financial authorities." Applying special privileges only to jeonse fraud victims could cause problems in the overall credit system, the basic order of the state, and common sense.

However, households that have already vacated due to jeonse fraud will not be excluded. Minister Won said, "Completely excluding them just because the system was a step late does not align with the purpose of support or fairness," noting, "In Incheon, about 240 households have reported being evicted."

He also said, "I fully agree with national funding support, unified work processes, and data-sharing systems for jeonse fraud victims," and added, "We will collaborate with local governments to supplement these."

Meanwhile, it was found that 62% of clients who visited the Incheon Jeonse Fraud Support Center over the past three months were in their 20s and 30s.

From January 31 to April 21 this year, the total number of clients was 928, with 2,519 consultations. Among them, 201 (22%) were in their 20s, and 369 (40%) were in their 30s. The types of victimization included ▲non-return of deposit 299 (32%) ▲auction winning bid 80 (9%) ▲abnormal contracts 68 (7%). The most used program was legal consultation with 1,501 cases, followed by ▲jeonse fraud victim registration 928 cases ▲emergency housing support consultation 523 cases ▲emergency financial support consultation 17 cases.

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