"If No Cooperation, Real Estate Agency Organization and Budget Will Be Lost" Moon Administration's Pressure on Housing Statistics Evident

Board of Audit and Inspection, Interim Results of 'Major National Statistics Preparation and Utilization' Audit
Signs of Continuous Pressure from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Amid Rising Housing Prices

Former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI), which is investigating allegations of housing data manipulation by the Moon Jae-in administration, has uncovered evidence of manipulation in housing price statistics.

According to the interim results of the audit on the "Preparation and Utilization of Major National Statistics" released by the BAI on the 15th, numerous statements revealed that former Blue House and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) officials under the Moon Jae-in administration intervened in housing price statistics.

The BAI stated that immediately after former President Moon Jae-in took office in early June 2017, the Blue House Policy Office instructed the Korea Real Estate Board to report not only the weekly "final figures" but also the "midweek" and "preliminary figures" that are released weekly.

At a BAI briefing on the same day, Choi Dal-young, the first deputy auditor, said, "The Korea Real Estate Board requested suspension of the midweek survey 12 times, citing potential legal issues, but the Blue House and MOLIT ignored these requests."

The BAI also judged that the Blue House and MOLIT exerted direct pressure on the Korea Real Estate Board by ordering on-site inspections or demanding "detailed evidence" whenever the midweek housing price change rate was higher than the previous week.

From February 2019, it was revealed that the Korea Real Estate Board deemed sample surveys meaningless and arbitrarily predicted and reported the change rates.

After housing prices in Seoul began rising again in June 2019, MOLIT reportedly made more blatant demands such as "If this continues, our entire line will be ruined" and "Could you please make it negative for just one more week?"

Following the September 13 measures, which included strengthening the comprehensive real estate tax on multiple homeowners and tightening loan regulations, the Seoul sales price change rate, which had been declining, shifted from negative in the third week of June to flat, leading to interpretations that manipulation was effectively requested. Ultimately, the BAI explained that the Korea Real Estate Board manipulated the final sales figure for Seoul to -0.01%.

Deputy Auditor Choi said, "After housing prices in Seoul began rising again in June 2019, MOLIT pressured the Korea Real Estate Board more strongly by urging the resignation of its president and threatening to cut its organization and budget."

Reprimanding remarks by former Blue House Policy Office Chief Kim Sang-jo, who came from a civic group background, were also revealed. During a 2020 National Assembly question session, former MOLIT Minister Kim Hyun-mi caused controversy by stating that "Seoul's housing price increase rate was 11% over three years since the Moon Jae-in administration began." At that time, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) criticized former President Moon, saying apartment prices had risen by 52% since his inauguration. The BAI explained that former Policy Office Chief Kim told MOLIT to "actively promote the excellent statistics of the Korea Real Estate Board," "strongly rebut the CCEJ head when he acts out," and "why are you being so passive?"

As housing prices continued to rise after 2020, Blue House officials reportedly frequently pressured by saying things like "Make sure Seoul's (change rate) is lower than last week," "What is the head of the housing policy division doing now?" and "The jeonse prices in Yangcheon and Dongjak districts have risen too much. Have MOLIT look into it."

A BAI official said at the briefing, "We confirmed the conversation contents through KakaoTalk and text messages of the personnel involved." When asked by reporters whether the parties might have different views on whether the remarks were pressuring, the official replied, "We cross-verified that these were pressuring remarks through the context before and after the conversations and investigations of connected individuals."

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