"Up to 50% of Profits from Private Land Development to Be Reclaimed"
Expecting Passage of Three Land Monopoly Regulation Laws This Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Former leader and Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Nak-yeon announced the "Principles of Public Land and Public Development" on the 23rd, pledging to prevent issues like those involving Hwacheon Daeyu in Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's case from recurring.
On this day, Lee said, "Various suspicions are pouring out regarding the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province," and pointed out, "It is unjust that private companies have pocketed such enormous real estate profits by utilizing publicly owned land." He added, "I hope the three laws regulating land monopoly will definitely pass in this year's regular National Assembly session," presenting additional measures to limit unfair profits that may arise during land development. This is interpreted as raising the level of checks against Governor Lee Jae-myung.
First, Lee stated, "Private land development will be freely conducted by the private sector within the framework of laws and systems, but up to 50% of development profits will be reclaimed."
He said, "I will swiftly pass the amendment to the Development Profit Reclamation Act, which I proposed as a representative in July, to establish a legal basis," adding, "After the law is enacted, the burden rate, which had been continuously lowered, will be raised to 45-50%, and the funds thus secured will be invested in housing stability for the homeless, low-income people, and youth, as well as in balanced national development."
He also said, "I will revise the Enforcement Decree of the Urban Development Act, which currently allows private developers like Hwacheon Daeyu?at the core of the Seongnam Daejang-dong development project suspicions?to abuse the system by conducting private contracts and development on behalf of others, to prevent such problems from recurring."
Furthermore, he announced that future public land development will, in principle, prohibit any form of direct private participation, including through agencies. He explained that this approach will be applied starting with the public development of the Seoul Airport relocation site.
Lee emphasized, "LH, local governments, and their development corporations will be responsible for investment and development directly, and related systems will be established accordingly," adding, "Private construction companies can participate as contractors building high-quality public housing through contracts with public sector developers. The profits generated through this form of public land development will be returned to the people."
He also stated, "We will continue to promote reforms in LH's management structure so that LH can properly fulfill its role as a participant in public development," and added, "If necessary during the implementation of the system, we will also consider establishing a third institution specializing in public development investment."
Finally, Lee pointed out, "The Seongnam Daejang-dong project, in which Hwacheon Daeyu participated, had a significant portion handled by the private sector from the land preparation stage," and said, "From some perspectives, there is room to see that private capital exploited the advantages that public leadership could have provided, such as compulsory acquisition rights and easier permits, which is neither fair nor just."
He concluded, "I, Lee Nak-yeon, will break down hereditary capitalism based on real estate and will definitely resolve asset inequality caused by real estate."
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