Yoon Hee-sook "Sold House in Sejong City... Civic Groups Urge Ruling Party Lawmakers to Monitor Sejong City Real Estate"

Criticism from Kyungsillyeon: "Civic groups and opposition lawmakers criticize opposition's real estate policy while only mentioning their real estate assets"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the Future United Party’s Economic Innovation Committee, pointed out that she "sold her house in Sejong City" and said, "We need to look into the asset ownership status of ruling party lawmakers in Sejong City." The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), which criticized that "4 out of 10 United Party lawmakers are multi-homeowners," also called it a "citizens' group that distorts the discussion."

On the 29th, Rep. Yoon said on Facebook, "Recently, when the Democratic Party started talking about relocating the capital, people immediately came out saying they would buy," expressing this view.

He said, "(Although the asking price rose) after much thought, I contracted at the original price I had set," and appealed, "When it comes to real estate, I have dealt with it more straightforwardly than anyone else, so please stop making baseless accusations and think about the content of my words."

Rep. Yoon pointed out, "Are all the people flocking to Sejong City real estate because of the ruling party’s announcement of good news that would raise Sejong City house prices speculators?" and "What is wrong with people who, dreaming of owning their own home anyway, want to buy a house in a place where prices are likely to rise? What is wrong with those who, lacking knowledge and afraid of stock investment, put their money into the familiar real estate market?"

He continued, "The Democratic Party and the government say that speculators have run rampant due to global-level excess liquidity, causing house prices to rise, but that is a blatant lie," and criticized, "Until the liquidity issue became prominent, from May 2017 when the Moon Jae-in administration took office until last year, Seoul house prices kept rising sharply. This is because policies that made people expect house prices to rise further were continuously created under the guise of real estate measures."

He said, "The Moon Jae-in government nurtured ordinary people into real estate speculators and now demonizes them as enemies to evade policy failure," and "Citizens' groups that respond to this by distorting discussions are also troubling entities."

Rep. Yoon said, "Yesterday, there was even a citizens' group that criticized the opposition party’s real estate policies by only mentioning the real estate assets of opposition lawmakers," and pointed out, "If you want to make such claims, the principle is to criticize by matching what those with large real estate assets have advocated in their legislative activities." This was a criticism of CCEJ for selectively criticizing the United Party lawmakers’ real estate assets.

He said, "Citizens' groups have the mission to monitor and check the living powers, and if they are to criticize, the method must also be appropriate," adding, "One of the signs that the country is not normal is the current state of citizens' groups in our country. Women’s groups that are lenient on sexual violence, citizens' groups that act as the Blue House’s second squad, environmental groups silent on the solar cartel that damages the environment..."

Rep. Yoon pointed out, "What needs to be monitored now is the asset ownership status of ruling party lawmakers who claim that you should never make money from real estate and that multi-homeowners are sinners," and "We need to look into who owns houses in Sejong City and continue to monitor who buys real estate in Sejong City going forward."

He said, "Please make sure to check who among the ruling party lawmakers and Blue House staff are holding onto their houses in Sejong City without selling," and "Not opposition lawmakers who argue that punitive taxes should not be imposed only on one side such as real estate investment, stock investment, or art investment, but the ruling party lawmakers."