Democratic Party: "People Power Party Blocking Housing Supply"... On 'New Home' Controversy, "Yoon Policy Remains Unchanged"

First Meeting of the Housing Market Stabilization Task Force

Emphasizing Urgency in Restoring the 'Housing Ladder'

On the “New Home” Controversy: “Not an Erasure of Yoon's Legacy”

The Democratic Party of Korea asserted that the People Power Party is responsible for the reduction in real estate supply, while the government and ruling party stated their intention to accelerate housing supply. The party also firmly refuted claims that the Lee Jaemyung administration is overturning the previous government's public housing brand, “New Home.”

Byungdo Han, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the first meeting of the “Task Force for Stabilizing the Housing Market” held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on the 12th, “We will restore the ‘housing ladder’ by strengthening the value of residential welfare, which has long been a core value of the Democratic Party.”

He added, “Members of the National Assembly belonging to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee; the Planning and Finance Committee; the Political Affairs Committee; and the Public Administration and Security Committee all participated in the meeting. By removing the barriers between standing committees, we will meticulously work to organically review related policies and legislation and quickly produce results,” adding, “Given the need for a revolutionary shortening of the housing supply timeline, the party and government will work closely together.”

Byungdo Han, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Floor Countermeasure Meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Han, the Floor Leader, criticized, “The People Power Party insists that the solution for stabilizing the real estate market is increasing supply, but in reality, they are blocking the legislation necessary to follow up on the government’s supply measures. This is a truly irresponsible and absurd display of words and actions not matching.”

He went on to say, “The main culprits behind the current shortage in housing supply are the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the Oh Sehoon city government, and the incompetence of the People Power Party. For the three years that they were the ruling party, they delayed housing supply, and now, as the opposition, they are obstructing every policy the government introduces to promote housing supply.”

Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, attended the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 10th and listened to the remarks of Son Eunjung, emergency measures committee member of New Home. Photo by Yonhap News

The Democratic Party of Korea stated that the so-called “New Home controversy,” which claims that the Lee Jaemyung administration is overturning the public housing policies of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, is not true. Bok Kiwang, the Democratic Party lawmaker and secretary to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, told reporters during a closed session, “The Lee administration does not arbitrarily overturn policies just because they originated from the Yoon administration. All of our Democratic Party members in the Land Committee conveyed that the original intent and the wording of the advance subscription guideline should remain unchanged, and we received a positive response from the Minister of Land regarding this matter.”

During the Yoon administration, it was announced that buyers could take out loans of up to 500 million won for up to 40 years at a fixed annual interest rate of 1.9% to 3.0%. Recently, as the final subscription phase approaches, the financial support terms initially provided to advance subscription winners changed. On August 10, Jang Donghyuk, leader of the People Power Party, harshly criticized the government, claiming, “The government is engaging in sales fraud.”

Bok continued, “The 1.9% to 3.0% rate was merely an example, set 0.25 percentage points lower than the Didimdol loan rate at the time. The loans will be issued in 2030, at which time the rate could be lower or higher than the example then offered. The Democratic Party members on the Land Committee believe the rate should be set 0.25 percentage points lower than the Didimdol loan rate as it stands in 2030.”

He added, “The People Power Party should stop making this a political dispute. This issue originated during their administration.” Bok also said, “In 2022, they introduced the advance subscription system for 2030 supply, which was essentially borrowing from future supply. This has had numerous side effects. It would be better if the People Power Party would accept a shared sense of responsibility.”

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