Joo Ho-young: "Owning Two Houses... Criticized for Telling the Public to 'Sell Them'"

"Government Real Estate Policy, Failure in Supply Policy"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han, Intern Reporter Seulgi Kim] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the United Future Party, criticized the government's real estate policy on the 8th, saying it "failed in the supply policy."

In an interview with MBC Newsdesk on the same day, Floor Leader Joo said, "Supply policies must be implemented where they are truly needed, but even if supply increases, it is useless if it is not supplied to the necessary areas."

He added, "During the nine years of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, the median apartment housing price rose by 25%, but under the Moon Jae-in administration, it increased by 52% in just three years," and claimed, "There are various causes, but first of all, Minister Kim Hyun-mi, the head of the relevant ministry, is not an expert at all."

He further pointed out, "(Minister Kim) is someone who says 'all policies are working properly' even in this situation, so she should be replaced quickly and the policies should be entrusted to an expert."

Floor Leader Joo said, "There is a specialized real estate rental business sector, and tax benefits have been given to these people. Experts point out that these individuals buy multiple houses, which contributes to price increases," and argued, "Measures should be taken to prevent professional rental business operators from engaging in such activities for speculative purposes, and supply should be increased along with comprehensive conditions."

Regarding Chief Secretary to the Blue House Noh Young-min's decision to dispose of the 'Banpo apartment' and ruling party figures disposing of multiple homes, he said, "I do not see this as a normal situation."

Floor Leader Joo criticized again, saying, "Decisions on whether to dispose of real estate or hold more should be made naturally by free will under laws and systems, but forced disposal within the ruling party or under the president's orders is not normal."

He added, "However, there are two areas where Chief Secretary Noh and Democratic Party officials can be criticized. One is that they made pledges during the election, so they gained votes. They should be criticized for not properly fulfilling those promises," and pointed out, "They themselves do not sell, so to speak, they make a lot of capital gains from sales while telling ordinary citizens to sell and keep only one house. This is unreasonable."

He continued, "I believe owning houses not for residential purposes is problematic," but also said, "For example, a district lawmaker who needs a residence in Seoul and another in their district, owning two houses, should not be heavily criticized."

Meanwhile, regarding the 'media-prosecution collusion' allegations and the conflict between Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Floor Leader Joo claimed, "Since Prosecutor General Yoon is investigating the living power, this administration itself is trying to oust him. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is attacking from below, and Minister Choo is trying to remove him from above. It's that kind of fight."