Lee Jun-seok Criticizes Lee Jae-myung: "Real Estate Unearned Income Recovery? House Prices Soared Due to Meeting the Wrong President"

Lee Jae-myung "We must recover unearned income through taxation to minimize it"
Lee Jun-seok "Housing prepared by workers through lifelong labor should be subject to unearned income recovery if prices soar"

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, is participating in a party leader debate battle at SBS Mokdong, Seoul, on the 21st.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, criticized Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, who declared that he would "recover unearned income from real estate and return it to the people," saying, "I don't know what unearned income from real estate is."

On the 23rd, Lee Jun-seok wrote on his social media, "If an urban worker works hard all their life, pays off their mortgage, and buys a house, and the price soars because of a president's mistake, is that house subject to unearned income recovery?" He added, "If the price falls later, will you compensate? Is the basic income distributed that way considered labor income?"

This appears to be a criticism that the criteria for unearned income from real estate are ambiguous, and that the basic income, which is to be recovered and distributed to all citizens, might itself be unearned income.

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, posted on his Facebook on the 23rd./Photo by Lee Jun-seok

Earlier, on the 22nd, Governor Lee announced a basic income pledge to pay 1 million KRW annually to all citizens and 2 million KRW annually to youth. Along with this, he stated that unearned income from real estate would be recovered through taxation to fund the basic income.

Governor Lee appeared on YTN Radio's "Hwang Bo-seon's Starting New Morning" and said, "In our country, unearned income from real estate accounts for nearly one-quarter of the total national income," adding, "The government builds bridges, undertakes urban redevelopment, or brings in companies nearby, causing prices to rise, but since landowners acquire 100% of this increase, speculation is rampant."

He continued, "To minimize unearned income from real estate, it must be recovered through taxation. There is strong tax resistance when collecting taxes. Therefore, all of this will be returned to the people."