DP's Moon Jinseok: "There May Be Resistance to Land Permit System... But I Can't Agree with 'Kicking Away the Ladder'"

"15 Billion Won or Less Homes With Many Genuine Buyers Maintain LTV"
"Land Transaction Permit System Will Stabilize Housing Prices in the Long Run"

Moon Jinseok, Senior Deputy Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, acknowledged that there may be resistance to the land transaction permit system included in the October 15 Real Estate Measures, but stated that the policy does not run counter to genuine homebuyers seeking to purchase their own homes.

Yonhap News Agency

At a comprehensive briefing on the parliamentary audit held at the National Assembly in Yeouido on the 17th, Moon, who serves as the head of the audit situation room, commented on the October 15 Real Estate Measures, saying, "It was an unprecedentedly strong move to designate the entire city of Seoul and parts of the metropolitan area as land transaction permit zones, so I understand that there may be some resistance or discomfort. However, since there were no restrictions on loans for homes priced at 1.5 billion won or less, I cannot agree with the narrative that this policy is 'kicking away the ladder' for homeownership."

The October 15 Real Estate Measures are policies announced with the intention of curbing speculative demand by designating all of Seoul and 12 areas in Gyeonggi Province as land transaction permit zones and regulated areas (speculative overheated districts and adjustment target areas), and by expanding the scope of the 40% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. The People Power Party criticized the measures as 'anti-market demand-suppression policies' and accused them of 'kicking away the housing ladder.'

Moon stated, "Homes with a large number of genuine buyers are generally in that price range (1.5 billion won or less). I am not sure how critical it is to reduce the loan amount by 200 million won for those purchasing homes priced at over 2 billion won."

When asked whether the demand suppression measures might negatively impact the Democratic Party's chances in the Seoul mayoral race, Moon replied, "I think that could be the case temporarily." He added, "When areas are designated as land transaction permit zones, the real estate market tends to freeze, which is not a good signal for stakeholders. However, in the long run, I believe that designating these zones will have the effect of stabilizing housing prices."

Regarding additional supply measures, Moon predicted that it would take time. He said, "If we announce the supply measures based on actual construction starts, the market will feel the impact. I think, rather than large-scale new town development as in the past, we will likely proceed with more targeted, selective supply measures."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is planning to hold an operations committee meeting on the 29th. Moon stated, "We plan to discuss institutional and general witnesses on the 29th," and regarding the potential summoning of Kim Hyunji, the First Secretary to the President, as a witness, he said, "Of course, that will be discussed." As for the possibility of an additional parliamentary audit, he said, "Nothing has been decided yet."

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