Won Hee-ryong: "Real Estate is a Nationwide Asset Formation... Desires Must Also Be Respected"

Minister of Land Candidate Confirmation Hearing
"Yoon Government's Final Real Estate Goal is 'Housing Stability'"

On the 2nd, Won Hee-ryong, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, attended the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly and responded to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Won Hee-ryong, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated on the 2nd that the ultimate goal of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's real estate policy is 'housing stability.'

At the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly that day, in response to a question from Jeong Dong-man, a member of the People Power Party, asking about "the principles and direction of the Yoon Seok-yeol government's real estate policy," Won said, "Housing stability is a concept that includes the desire for housing improvement and housing welfare."

Won emphasized that "housing is the most basic essential resource for pursuing the happiness of the people," while also highlighting its nature as an asset.

He said, "Unlike other countries, two-thirds of the total assets of Korean citizens are concentrated in real estate," adding, "(In the long term) these (real estate) assets should move into finance, but it is also true that real estate has the character of forming national wealth."

He continued, "We must respect these desires and address them," and said, "To do this, the government should not act punitively alone, but should normalize the market by exercising all its supply and welfare functions, as well as financial and tax functions, in a way that accompanies the market."

In response to a question from Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, about the reasons for the failure of the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy, Won said, "They tried to fight the market and criminalized the very ordinary desires of the people and the middle class, which led to the worst failure."

He also said, "They repeated the mistake of trying to control housing prices in specific areas in the short term, an unrealistic and reckless policy aimed at directly controlling prices, but the results went in the opposite direction."

He said, "The overwhelming public sentiment in the regime change was the people's response to the complete failure of the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy," adding, "I think the people gave a signal that the government should not fight the market or criminalize the legitimate desires of the people."

Won emphasized, "No government in any country recklessly tries to directly control housing prices," and said, "It is a matter of focusing on stabilizing housing for the low-income population, removing obstacles since supply takes time, and releasing demand appropriately according to financial and income growth."