Kim Hyun-mi's Statement 'New Towns Instead of Yeongkkeul'... United Party Calls It "Serious Cognitive Dissonance"

Kim Hyun-mi, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is entering the conference room to attend the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 1st. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Regarding Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi's remark that "instead of buying houses by stretching finances to the limit (Yeongkkeul), people should consider the pre-sale of apartments in Seoul and new towns," the United Future Party criticized it as a "serious cognitive dissonance."

Yoon Hee-seok, deputy spokesperson of the United Future Party, pointed out in a statement on the 1st, "For people in their 30s, who have lower subscription scores than those in their 40s and 50s, the pre-sale of new apartments is just someone else's story."

Minister Kim appeared before the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee that day and said, "We need to consider whether buying a house by stretching finances to the limit is beneficial in the long term, or if it is better to wait and receive pre-sale at a reasonable price when considering the supply volume in Seoul and new towns in the future," which sparked controversy.

Deputy spokesperson Yoon criticized, "Telling young people not to buy houses now but to aim for new town pre-sales is a serious cognitive dissonance," adding, "They cannot just wait for 5 or 10 years. There must be promises about when, where, and how much will be supplied."

He also criticized Minister Kim's remark that "the real estate price increase trend has significantly diminished," calling it "a consecutive series of absurd arguments following the '30s Yeongkkeul' comment," and said, "It only made the already struggling people's minds more uncomfortable."

Deputy spokesperson Yoon further stated, "Contrary to the minister's words, Seoul housing prices continued to rise in August," and criticized, "According to KB Kookmin Bank statistics, prices rose by 1.5%. On what basis are these assertions made? The public should not be deceived."