Lee Jae-myung "To Prevent Real Estate Speculation, Let's First Introduce a Blind Trust System for High-Ranking Officials"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, proposed to the government to first introduce a 'blind trust system' for high-ranking public officials who can influence real estate policies in order to prevent disastrous real estate speculation.

On the 5th, Governor Lee stated on Facebook, "Disastrous unearned income from real estate is once again becoming a problem due to soaring housing prices," and pointed out, "Fundamentally, it is due to the demand-supply imbalance caused by the finite nature of land, but currently, the policy direction and trust in policy are serious issues."

He added, "As the saying goes, 'There is no market that beats the government,' if accurate policies are implemented timely and the public trusts the government's policy intentions, real estate prices can be controlled to any extent," emphasizing, "However, if the public doubts the policy, no matter how good the policy is, it will have no effect. Therefore, good policies and trust in policies are the two driving forces behind policy success."

Governor Lee first advised, "To create good real estate policies, conflicts of interest must not be involved in policy decisions."

Since it is difficult to be free from conflicts of interest unless one is a sage, and people tend to favor their own interests, if a person who already owns or plans to acquire real estate for investment or speculation becomes a high-ranking public official who can influence real estate prices, they will inevitably act in ways that favor price increases, according to Governor Lee's view.

He also stated, "For policy trust, real estate owners must not be able to influence policy decisions," and argued, "Ultimately, to create fair and reasonable real estate policies and secure public trust in policies, a real estate blind trust system should be introduced for high-ranking public officials that prohibits ownership of all real estate except essential properties (such as one residential home), similar to the stock blind trust system."

Governor Lee added, "Currently, the stock blind trust system has been introduced for high-ranking public officials," and said, "If the government has the will, there is no reason why the real estate blind trust system cannot be introduced."

Finally, Governor Lee welcomed the Blue House's 'recommendation for high-ranking public officials to sell houses other than one residential home' implemented as a desperate measure in the absence of a real estate blind trust system, and expressed hope that it would be expanded to a 'recommendation to sell all real estate except one residential home for actual residence' in the future, laying the foundation for the introduction of the real estate blind trust system for high-ranking public officials.