"Seller Mortgage Method Spreading from Gangnam and Seocho to Metropolitan Areas"... People Power Party Criticizes President Lee

"President Lee Has Paved a Loophole for Unconventional Loans"

The People Power Party criticized what it described as the rapid spread of the “seller mortgage method” used during President Lee Jaemyung’s sale of his Bundang apartment.

Grand Zai Apartment, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

In a commentary released on the 25th, Choyong Sul, spokesperson for the People Power Party, said, “The so-called seller finance method, which was used during President Lee’s apartment sale, is now quickly spreading beyond Gangnam and Seocho to the expensive apartment markets in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Gwanggyo.”

He continued, “While the Lee Jaemyung administration tried to seal off the market with strict lending regulations, telling only the cash-rich to buy homes, the President himself has pioneered a workaround for irregular loans. In effect, the regulations have not normalized the market but instead created loophole transactions that only a few can take advantage of.”

He added, “What is even more troubling is that the President’s own transaction is now being treated almost like an ‘official endorsement’ in the marketplace,” expressing concern that “on the ground, there are increasing cases where seller loans are being actively encouraged, with claims that there are no legal issues.”

Another spokesperson for the People Power Party, Ham Inkyoung, also criticized, “It is said that even after lending out huge sums, no interest is charged. What kind of relationship do the seller and buyer share that allows for such a transaction? If, even between parents and children, tens of billions of won in real estate are transferred and large balances are lent interest-free, it would be hard for the tax authorities to believe that it is not a case of disguised gifting or tax evasion.”

She further stressed, “The entire real estate market order should not be disrupted for the sake of a single presidential home sale,” adding, “I would like to ask if this is what President Lee means by ‘normalization’ of the real estate market.”

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