[Asia Economy=Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, the leading presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, announced that he will push not only for the 'Development Profit National Rebate System' but also for the 'Disclosure of Apartment Construction Costs,' which has repeatedly been thwarted due to various lobbying efforts by construction companies.
He declared that the recent private-public development scandal in Daejang-dong, Seongnam, will be used as an opportunity to root out the construction corruption forces and the political factions that have colluded with them to enjoy special privileges.
On the 7th, through Facebook, Governor Lee criticized, "While they verbally harshly criticize the government for rising housing prices, the People Power Party fiercely opposes institutional alternatives that can remove housing price bubbles, such as the 'Disclosure of Apartment Construction Costs.'"
He continued, "The disclosure of construction costs has been proposed for more than a decade as a way to curb housing price increases by controlling inflated sales prices and construction costs," adding, "Since these products are created using national land, which is everyone's asset, the costs should rightfully be disclosed from the perspective of the public's right to know."
However, he pointed out, "The People Power Party, united with vested interests, has blocked the disclosure of construction and sales costs by putting forward plausible reasons such as 'it goes against capitalism,' 'it is unconstitutional,' and 'it infringes on corporate freedom of activity,'" and directly accused, "(This is) because they are one with the construction forces."
Governor Lee further questioned, "Who are the forces that changed the Daejang-dong public development into private development, fiercely opposed public development, and shared the private development spoils?" He then proudly stated, "Since my time as Mayor of Seongnam and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, I have led the dismantling of the construction cartel by pushing for the disclosure of construction and sales costs despite strong opposition."
In particular, he said, "In April 2016, during my tenure as Mayor of Seongnam, I was the first in the nation to disclose detailed project orders and construction costs on the website," explaining, "This allowed us to identify whether designs were inflated compared to private projects, which deflated construction cost bubbles and enabled cost-effective welfare projects in Seongnam based on these budget savings."
He also emphasized, "After assuming office as Governor of Gyeonggi Province, we disclosed cost data such as design statements, contract details, subcontract details, comparisons between primary and subcontracting, and design change details for public construction projects with contract amounts exceeding 1 billion KRW on the provincial website," adding, "We also disclosed the construction costs of apartments sold by GH (Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation)."
He noted, "In the case of Seoul, SH Corporation disclosed apartment construction costs, but the cost documents disclosed by Gyeonggi Province exceed 400 pages in A4 size, whereas SH Corporation's disclosure is about 10 pages," pointing out, "The value of information differs in terms of the public's right to know."
Finally, Governor Lee stated, "The recent Daejang-dong scandal revealed the construction cartel connected as one team with the construction forces, the political factions that have protected them and reaped all kinds of benefits, the prosecution, and the media that survive on sales advertisements," promising, "I will not miss this opportunity, and I will completely eradicate the rent-seeking republic by expanding the 'Complete National Rebate System for Development Profits' and the 'Disclosure of Apartment Construction and Sales Costs' system implemented in Seongnam City and Gyeonggi Province nationwide."
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