Presidential Office "Additional Housing Supply Measures to Be Announced Within the Year... Questioning Whether Revising the Commercial Act Is the Best Option"

Yoon Approaches Midterm Mark with Performance Report
"Highest Employment Rate, Lowest Unemployment Rate" Evaluation
"Inheritance Tax Should Be Changed to Estate Acquisition Tax"
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Sung Tae-yoon, Chief of Policy Office at the Presidential Office, is giving a briefing on national achievements and future tasks at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 5th. Photo by Yonhap News

The Presidential Office announced on the 5th, "We will actively promote large-scale housing supply in preferred areas through measures such as lifting the Greenbelt designation and reconstructing aging planned cities."

On the same day, Sung Tae-yoon, Director of Policy at the Presidential Office, held a briefing on 'Government Achievements and Future Tasks' at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon, stating, "We will stabilize prices from the consumer's perspective and stabilize the housing market from the perspective of actual demanders to alleviate the burden of housing costs."

During the briefing, Director Sung reported on policy achievements in areas such as the economy, society, and science and technology ahead of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's midterm on the 10th, and explained future tasks.

Regarding this, a senior official from the Presidential Office said, "We plan to announce additional supply measures within this year if possible," adding, "It is difficult to disclose specific plans, but the large-scale expansion of supply will continue."

He continued, "The expansion of supply is not just about increasing the quantity, but we are planning to supply in areas preferred by the public, places where people want to live," and added, "We expect supply in those areas to increase."

Economic Secretary to the President Park Chun-seop (left) and Science and Technology Secretary Park Sang-wook are attending a briefing by Sung Tae-yoon, Director of the Presidential Policy Office, on government achievements and future tasks at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 5th. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the direction of tax reform, he emphasized, "We will lower the world's highest inheritance tax top rate and significantly expand the lower tax brackets and child deduction amounts."

A senior official from the Presidential Office said, "The current inheritance tax system was almost created in the 1950s, and only about four countries maintain a tax system like ours," adding, "We are considering changing it to a form of estate acquisition tax."

The estate acquisition tax is a system that taxes based on the property inherited by the heir, rather than the entire inherited estate.

However, he added, "It is not something that can be changed by just modifying a few items; it requires a thorough analysis of the tax system itself and a comprehensive approach, so it will take some time."

In particular, the official said, "In the long term, we can also consider transitioning not only to estate acquisition tax but also to capital gains tax," adding, "I think help is needed to make the overall tax system more rational."

Regarding the Democratic Party's agreement to abolish the financial investment income tax (Fintax), he said, "It was a very necessary matter," and "Although late, we welcome it."

However, on the proposed amendment to the Commercial Act pushed by the Democratic Party, he expressed a de facto opposition stance, saying, "I am not sure if it is the best method."

Earlier, the Democratic Party announced plans to amend the Commercial Act to impose responsibility on corporate directors to protect shareholder interests. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, said, "We will implement improvement measures starting with amending the shareholder duty of loyalty clause in the Commercial Act, which allows omission of substance, within this regular session of the National Assembly."

In response, a senior official from the Presidential Office said, "I think it is necessary to accurately point out and correct parts where shareholders may suffer difficulties or damages," but added, "If the duty of loyalty to shareholders is generalized as an obligation for all companies, it could become a burden for companies or a source of conflict among shareholders."

He continued, "Rather than approaching it generally, it would be better to clearly regulate parts that harm shareholder interests and strictly control those parts," adding, "The detailed institutional design will be pursued by the financial authorities."

On the 5th, at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, Seong Tae-yoon, Chief of Policy at the Presidential Office, held a briefing on "National Achievements and Future Tasks," with Yoo Hye-mi, Chief of Low Birthrate Response (from the right), Park Sang-wook, Chief of Science and Technology, Park Chun-seop, Chief of Economic Affairs, and Jang Sang-yoon, Chief of Social Affairs, in attendance. Photo by Yonhap News.

Meanwhile, regarding the government's achievements in the first half of the term, Director Sung said, "We are actively pushing forward structural reforms across society that have long been unachieved, such as correcting illegal acts in the labor field, integrating reserved labor unions, expanding medical school admissions, and pension reform, without considering political advantages or disadvantages," adding, "We also made every policy effort to achieve economic recovery and growth in response to an unprecedented global complex crisis."

He evaluated, "Despite the highly uncertain domestic and international conditions, we showed clear economic achievements such as achieving the highest employment rate and the lowest unemployment rate in history, and attracting the largest scale of foreign investment ever."

He added, "Going forward, the government will do its best to bring about changes in people's livelihoods through reforms, focusing solely on the people," emphasizing, "We will spare no effort to establish ourselves as a reform government and a government for the people's livelihood in the lives of all citizens."

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