Won Hee-ryong Criticizes Moon's Policies Daily, Saying "Housing Prices Control Causes Market Instability"

Won Hee-ryong, the newly appointed Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is delivering his inaugural speech at the inauguration ceremony held online on the 16th.

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated on the 16th, "If we push forward with excessive policies to control housing prices, it could instead destabilize the market." He emphasized, "Beyond the narrow goal of stabilizing housing prices, the fundamental objective of our policies will be to achieve housing stability that fulfills both the housing welfare of marginalized groups and the desire for upward residential mobility to live in better homes."

During the 'Online Inauguration Ceremony with the People' held via YouTube live broadcast that day, Minister Won said, "A downward stabilization trend in housing prices is absolutely necessary," but added, "We intend to learn from the failure of the previous administration, which suppressed the basic desires for homeownership and upward residential mobility, leading to a sharp rise in housing prices."

This reflects his intention to take the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policies, which focused mainly on demand suppression through regulation, as a negative example. This is not the first time Minister Won has criticized the Moon administration's real estate policies.

During his confirmation hearing as a ministerial nominee, Won also labeled the Moon administration's real estate policies as a "complete failure." On the 2nd, he stated, "The Moon administration's real estate policies fought against the market and criminalized the very ordinary desires of the people and the middle class, resulting in the worst failure." He criticized, "The repeated mistakes stemmed from the wrong goal of trying to control housing prices in specific areas in the short term and from reckless and unrealistic policies aimed at direct price control, but the results went in the opposite direction."

He further said, "No government in any country recklessly tries to directly control housing prices," emphasizing, "Focusing on stabilizing housing for the common people, removing obstacles since supply takes time, and adjusting demand according to financial and income growth levels as needed is the right approach." He added, "Rather than an arrogant approach that claims to control housing prices in one shot, we will focus on how to guide abnormal demand and supply, ultra-low interest rates, speculative psychology, and overheated expectations toward stability and trust."

Won Hee-ryong, the newly appointed Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (left), is seen answering questions during the inauguration ceremony held online on the 16th.

On that day, Minister Won revealed plans to resolve housing instability through large-scale supply and deregulation instead of regulation. He said, "Within 100 days after the government’s launch, we will announce a housing supply plan of 2.5 million units plus alpha." Minister Won emphasized that he would focus on supplying housing in urban areas with high demand to lay the foundation for housing price stabilization.

He also plans to quickly prepare a supply plan for 500,000 youth housing units to support young people who face relatively greater difficulties in homeownership due to fewer asset accumulation opportunities. Minister Won announced that pre-subscription for youth cost-price housing and first homes near subway stations for young people and homeless households would be promoted early. He elaborated, "Through bold financial and fiscal support, youth-tailored LTV (Loan-to-Value) and DSR (Debt Service Ratio) applications, and tax benefits, we will enable young people with insufficient basic assets to have hope for homeownership."

He reiterated his commitment to easing redevelopment and reconstruction regulations. He said, "We will proceed with normalizing regulations on redevelopment and reconstruction projects, financial and tax matters as promised, together with related ministries," adding, "To prevent market confusion, we will establish a master plan and implement it in an orderly manner." Alongside this, he mentioned plans to create a future housing welfare platform that combines housing, living, and public services to proactively respond to demographic changes such as the increase in single-person households, low birth rates, and aging population.

Meanwhile, Minister Won emphasized improving the metropolitan transportation system to minimize commuting time for residents of the Seoul metropolitan area. In this context, he also mentioned the drama My Liberation Notes. This drama depicts the hardships of Gyeonggi Province residents commuting to Seoul from the fictional place called 'Sinpo City.'

Minister Won said he watched My Liberation Notes and expressed empathy for those who endure two-hour commutes on metropolitan buses at stations like Sadang or Yangjae. He announced plans to address these commuting transportation issues by introducing metropolitan buses or double-decker metropolitan electric buses in the short term. He stressed, "In the mid to long term, we must make bold investments to realize a 30-minute commuting era," and added, "We have announced election pledges such as the undergrounding of the Gyeongbu Expressway, GTX, and metropolitan railway construction, and we will thoroughly prepare to ensure these proceed without setbacks."