Lee Jae-myung: "House prices have risen absurdly, to the point of being regarded as a 'symbol of wealth'"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung is giving a greeting speech at the AI Healthcare Platform Establishment Ceremony held in the Business Room of Gwangju City Hall on the afternoon of the 29th of last month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Soyoung] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed his intention to introduce the 'Public Officials Real Estate Blind Trust System' through a post titled "Even excellent policies are ineffective without trust" on his Facebook on the 4th.

Governor Lee emphasized, "If public officials influencing real estate policies own multiple houses other than their primary residence, the credibility of the policy decreases, and market participants cannot take the purpose and content at face value."

The real estate blind trust system is a policy that requires high-ranking public officials to entrust real estate management to a neutral government agency during their term and restrict ownership of real estate except for essential property (one primary residence).

Governor Lee explained, "The Gyeonggi Province Clean Society Public-Private Council officially proposed the legislation of the 'Public Officials Real Estate Blind Trust System' to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Personnel Management yesterday (the 3rd). To practically introduce and operate the real estate blind trust system, we proposed amending the Public Officials Ethics Act to apply the obligation of property registration to public officials of grade 4 or higher and to extend the current stock blind trust system to those obligated to register property."

He criticized, "Although a house is a basic element of human life, like food and clothing, in South Korea today, house prices have risen absurdly high, to the extent that houses are regarded as exceptional luxury goods and symbols of wealth."

Governor Lee also stated, "Speculative demand beyond actual residence demand, and recently even fear-driven demand, have fueled the surge in house prices. Although policies and measures to curb house prices have been introduced, people do not trust them and predict that prices will continue to rise. The anxiety of the homeless will inevitably grow, fearing that if they do not buy quickly, they will live renting without ever owning a home."

He continued, "The introduction of the 'Public Officials Real Estate Blind Trust System' shows a strong will regarding real estate policy, restores market trust, and is the first step toward stabilizing house prices in the long term," reiterating its necessity.