Won Hee-ryong: "Careful Relaxation of Reconstruction and Redevelopment Regulations to Avoid Housing Price Surge"

Calls for Caution in Speeding Up Deregulation

Won Hee-ryong, nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (second from the left), visited the site of the Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident in Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the morning of the 29th and received an explanation of the recovery status from a representative of the construction company HDC Hyundai Development Company.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Won Hee-ryong, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated that the easing of reconstruction and redevelopment regulations will be approached cautiously and precisely to avoid stimulating housing prices.

On the 30th, Won made this statement in his written responses submitted to the National Assembly for his confirmation hearing. In response to a question from Park Sang-hyuk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol's pledge to ease reconstruction and redevelopment regulations, Won said, "Since the market is still experiencing overheating effects, easing redevelopment and reconstruction regulations could cause price instability," and emphasized, "It is necessary to approach this carefully and precisely by closely considering market conditions to avoid stimulating housing prices."

Previously, during his candidacy, President-elect Yoon pledged to rationally adjust the safety inspection standards for reconstruction. At that time, he proposed exempting safety inspections for apartments older than 30 years.

However, immediately after the presidential election, housing prices in first-generation new towns and other areas fluctuated due to expectations of regulatory easing, leading the Presidential Transition Committee and the government to advocate for a slowdown, citing concerns about stimulating housing prices.

In his response that day, Won also stated, "While there is a need to promote urban supply by rationally improving safety inspection standards, since there are many apartments subject to safety inspections that could significantly impact the market, we plan to proceed by comprehensively considering economic conditions, market situations, and the interrelations of regulations."