[Book Sip] Hanyang Housing Shortage... "Even Yeonam Park Ji-won Lived in a Rented Room"

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The land consolidation by the powerful elites is identified as one of the causes of the fall of Goryeo. The founding forces of Joseon, including Taejo Yi Seong-gye, carried out land reforms when establishing the new dynasty. The emerging literati of Joseon aimed to nationalize land to prevent the privileged from monopolizing it. However, granting private land as compensation privileges to founding meritorious subjects created gaps of inequality, leading to a major crisis. The author examines this history of real estate in Joseon. In the Joseon era, houses were considered mere appendages accompanying land transactions, but it was different in densely populated Hanyang. Fierce struggles were waged even over a small house. It is said that even Yeonam Park Ji-won lived in rented rooms until he turned sixty without owning a house. On the other hand, some created real estate investment opportunities by owning multiple houses, which parallels today’s reality. The author traces Joseon’s history to uncover why its real estate reforms failed.

Successful real estate reform starts on the absolute belief and awareness among citizens that ‘real estate inequality must be reformed.’ As long as we remain under the illusion that ‘the price of my house should rise, but overall prices nationwide should fall,’ real estate inequality will not be resolved for the next generation and beyond, but rather deepen. Ultimately, it will become an escalator toward national ruin, carrying the suffering of countless citizens. - From the “Preface”

In fact, the phrase ‘there is no land’ is quite strange. Real estate (不動産) literally means immovable property, always in the same place, so how can there be no land unless there is an earthquake or volcanic eruption? Joseon officials pointed out land shortages for centuries, unanimously crying out that there was no land, but land was always there. It just already had owners. Land owned by meritorious subjects, literati, officials’ wives, or their descendants completely undermined the originally designed national fiscal system, yet no one mentioned the fundamental principle set by Joseon’s architects. That principle was ‘complete redistribution through total dismantling,’ which is so obvious it pains to repeat. - From “Privileged Classes Begin Land Privatization”

It is the same logic as today’s big investors following where the National Pension Service invests. Since the Jinhyulcheong invested in the project, major investors in Seoul also took interest. They quickly grasped development information and registration guidelines, then secured development rights over extensive land. They sold land to others under the pretext of development rights. Some even extorted half the harvest by waiting for someone else to cultivate the land without doing any reclamation themselves. This recalls the ‘Seoul land tycoons’ who bought land in prime areas ahead of the Four Major Rivers Project or the administrative capital relocation, the ‘fly-by-night’ speculators, those who plant eggs in hot development areas, or those who fraudulently acquire farmland and subdivide it for sale. - From “Who Ate Up All That Land?”

Land prices are truly troublesome. From afar, it seems that the profits and losses from land price fluctuations apply equally to everyone. But on closer inspection, when prices rise, the benefits mainly go to the wealthy, and when prices fall, the losses mainly hit the common people. Therefore, Joseon operated a large-scale social security system, Hwangok, to broadly protect those severely affected whenever prices fluctuated. However, as Hwangok lost its welfare character, the safety net protecting the people during land price volatility gradually disappeared. - From “Who Ate Up All That Land?”

Of course, regulations are not always bad. There is always a socio-cultural context that makes them inevitable. In other words, a regulation is a dialectical and historical necessity. The media’s crossfire tends to focus on the regulation itself, neglecting or ignoring the social problems and solutions behind it. Therefore, simply demonizing regulations is never justified. However, real estate regulations alone are insufficient to solve the major problem of housing shortages. Regulations inevitably produce unintended effects. Policymakers explain these as ‘balloon effects’ to excuse themselves. But a rational policymaker would consider the inevitable side effects when implementing policies. Without this, regulations risk becoming ‘well-intentioned face-saving.’ - From “The Joseon Real Estate Agency Scene Created by Housing Shortages”

The situation at the time was as follows: record-breaking poor harvests causing price inflation and currency devaluation, the appearance of foreign ships and a hopeless political situation led by the Sedo regime, unsettled public sentiment, and depleted national finances. At this crisis moment, people collectively invested in real estate. The value of land and housing drew attention. Did they believe ‘house prices will eventually rise’? It is unknown, but it is clear that expectations as ‘safe assets’ were sufficient. - From “Peeking into Late Joseon House Prices through Transaction Documents”

What went wrong? Perhaps the ideal of land nationalization itself was flawed? If so, this is fatal for us living today. Many solutions devised for our era’s real estate problems are based on the concept of land public ownership. The land public ownership concept is a theoretical foundation allowing restrictions or obligations on land ownership to ensure public use and rational utilization. Although somewhat different from Joseon’s royal land nationalization ideology, both aim to pursue public interest through public regulation of private property. However, it seems difficult to say Joseon’s ideal itself was wrong. Despite strenuous efforts, Joseon never succeeded in land nationalization. Whenever the court tried to regulate the market based on the ideology of land nationalization, it faced surprisingly natural and sophisticated opposition from stakeholders. - From “Reopening”

The court consistently responded passively to housing issues. Although it pressured people with various regulations, it failed to closely monitor the formation and growth of the market. Especially when large-scale supply policies were desperately needed, the capital Hanyang maintained a stance that it could not expand even an inch, only occasionally reorganizing administrative districts or publicly leasing vacant lots. There was only one attempt to change this trend by building Hwaseong New City and relocating the administrative capital, but that opportunity dissipated like a spring dream. Why? Perhaps the court was not very interested in Hanyang’s housing shortage. For example, illegal buildings in early Joseon stemmed from royal authority and security issues. Public rental policies for soldiers were part of national defense strengthening. The ban on multiple houses for high officials was an ethical issue related to corruption. In other words, the ultimate goal of all policies that could be called housing policies was not ‘resolving housing shortages.’ - From “Reopening”

The technological innovations we witness today might create the long-dreamed ‘post-work society.’ It may already be too late to return to a world where ‘you own as much as you work, and pay taxes accordingly,’ where labor determines one’s life. However, those left behind by technological progress are also citizens and members of our community. We must remember that without them, our achievements could become hollow. Joseon landlords did not know this?they did not foresee that they themselves might become vulnerable and exploited someday. We also often forget that when we become intoxicated with our achievements and ignore community inequality, we might fall into the abyss of despair created by it. Perhaps the real estate reform we so desperately desire will begin not with a yearning for equality, but with accepting that fairness might sometimes work against us. - From “Reopening”

Sisikolkol Joseon Real Estate Annals | Written by Park Young-seo | Deulnyeok | 360 pages | 18,000 KRW