President Lee Responds to Growing Public Discontent over Real Estate, Vows to "Stabilize Housing Prices"... Accelerates Policy Implementation

President Lee Stresses Real Estate Market Stabilization
"Swift Implementation" of Supply, Regulatory, and Tax Policies
Including Balanced National Development and Administrative Capital Initiatives

On the 18th, President Lee Jae-myung emphasized that he would “absolutely stabilize the real estate market,” pledging to focus efforts on both balanced national development and housing price stability, as well as completing the administrative capital. Amid a situation where real estate is acting as the Achilles’ heel of government administration, he reaffirmed his commitment to achieving government objectives by swiftly pushing ahead with current policies rather than making a full-scale shift in policy direction.

President Lee Jae-myung is holding a press conference at the Blue House's Guesthouse on the 18th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

At his seventh press conference since taking office, held on this day at the Blue House State Guest House, President Lee stated, “We will resolutely implement balanced national development that overcomes the single-core structure of the Seoul metropolitan area—which is the fundamental obstacle to housing price stability in the metropolitan region—and diversify growth centers.” He added, “By firmly and swiftly executing policies on supply, regulation, and taxation, and by engaging in sufficient communication with stakeholders, we will minimize confusion and backlash and ensure the stabilization of housing prices.” He also said, “In order to alleviate excessive population concentration in the metropolitan area and achieve balanced national development, we will complete the construction of the administrative capital as quickly as possible.”

The real estate issue is a critical challenge for the current administration. The government’s strong real estate policies, including stricter tax measures and tighter loan regulations, have tightened the market. As a result, according to Korea Real Estate Board data, apartment prices in Seoul have risen for 82 consecutive weeks up to last month, with unintended effects such as rising real estate prices and shortages in rental listings for both monthly and annual leases. While the government has emphasized supply through measures such as the August 13 real estate plan, the long-term nature of these projects means there have yet to be clear outcomes. Thus, real estate policy has been cited as a core keyword in the negative assessments of the current administration since its inauguration.

In the political arena, real estate remains a constant source of conflict between the ruling and opposition parties. During the two-day confirmation hearings for five cabinet minister nominees starting on the 15th, not only the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Hong Ji-seon), but also ministries such as National Defense (Kang Shin-cheol), SMEs and Startups (Lee So-young), and Strategy and Finance (Lee Hyung-il) faced criticism from the opposition for actions seen as inconsistent with the government’s strict real estate stance, while the ruling party defended them. Recently, after news emerged of a decline in farmland transactions and falling prices following a comprehensive farmland survey, the opposition continued its criticism around this issue.

The People Power Party is calling for a fundamental policy shift, demanding expansion of private sector-led supply, as well as relaxation of loan and transaction regulations, as the real solution to the real estate market’s troubles. On September 14, parliamentary floor leader Jung Jin-seok stated, “We must declare a complete overhaul of real estate policies centered on loan restrictions and taxation from the ground up,” adding, “This press conference should mark the starting point for a policy shift in the Lee Jae-myung administration.”

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