Won Hee-ryong: "Government Directly Returning Deposits? A Line That Cannot Be Crossed"

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, CBS Radio Interview
"Not in line with the rights system and market economy principles"

Regarding criticisms that the victim requirements in the government's special law on Jeonse fraud are too strict, Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, explained, "I understand the frustration, but it is not complicated."

Minister Won appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on the 28th and said, "The first three conditions are obvious: there must be a contract, the property must have gone to auction, and it must be a housing for ordinary citizens. Then, conditions four, five, and six: there must be multiple victims, an intention to commit fraud, and difficulty in returning the deposit. These are also natural," he explained.

Earlier, on the 27th, the government announced the special law on Jeonse fraud. To be recognized as a victim of Jeonse fraud, all six conditions must be met: ▲ the tenant must have established opposability and obtained a fixed date ▲ auction or public sale (including execution order) of the leased housing must be in progress ▲ the housing must be considered ordinary tenant housing based on area and deposit ▲ there must be a determination of intent to commit Jeonse fraud such as initiation of investigation ▲ there must be a risk of multiple victims ▲ and there must be a risk that a significant portion of the deposit will not be returned.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is briefing on support measures for victims of jeonse fraud at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 27th. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Regarding the requirement of "intent to commit fraud," he said, "If the fraud recognized by the court is too narrow, the scope of relief becomes too small. On the other hand, if we use the common-sense term 'fraudster' too broadly, too many cases will be included, and then those who truly need protection will be mixed in and unable to receive it."

He continued, "If the deposit is not returned or the returned amount is insufficient, relief should be sought through normal civil procedures, even if it takes time. This special law is a temporary law that grants special conditions such as auction priority rights, so the requirements are intended to apply to cases of collective and planned fraud," he explained.

Regarding the term "multiple" in the requirements, he said, "The reason for including 'multiple' is that if the landlord rented to only one person, it is no different from general Jeonse damage, so applying this law in such cases would be somewhat unreasonable."

Additionally, Minister Won explained that advance compensation of deposits is not appropriate. He said, "There are senior creditors, so in cases where money is not received, it is essentially because they entered the situation knowing this from the start, although they were deceived. There are cases where appraisers or licensed real estate agents deceived people, or the landlord changed, but currently, there is no system where the state intervenes to first return the amount of fraud damage and later bears the tax burden if the money cannot be recovered."

He added, "Such a precedent cannot be made, and such a system does not align with our constitutional rights framework or market economy principles. Above all, it is difficult to gain public consensus. Therefore, the government views the direct immediate return of deposits as a line that cannot be crossed," he explained.

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