[Opinion] The Return of 'Oldboy', Will He Be the Savior of the Housing Market?

Park Sang-woo, Nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Recognized for Expertise After 30 Years in Key Positions

Recently, the real estate market has been dominated by a cold wind. Amid a trading freeze, nationwide apartment sale prices have fallen for three consecutive weeks, and in Seoul, prices have dropped for two weeks straight, signaling the start of a significant decline in housing prices. The number of apartments entering the auction market is also increasing. The proportion of apartments in the total real estate auction appraisal value has surged from an annual average of the 20% range to the 30% range recently. The interest of genuine buyers hoping to own a home is focused on whether the real estate market will revive next year. However, the outlook for next year remains bleak.

The attention directed at Park Sang-woo, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport appointed on the 4th, likely stems from hopes that he will act as a savior to revive the stagnant real estate market. This may be why Park himself expressed feelings of "a heavy sense of responsibility and mission" upon being nominated as the minister, who is at the forefront of public livelihood.

Park has spent over 30 years at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, earning recognition for his expertise and serving in key positions across different administrations, including Director of Housing Policy, Director of Land Planning, Director of Construction Policy, Director of Housing and Land, and Director of Planning and Coordination. As a real estate policy expert who also served as president of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), he is expected to be highly capable in practical affairs.

Expectations are high that he will lead regulatory easing. In an interview with the media after his nomination, Park stated, "Basically, I will approach the market with a stance of regulatory relaxation." In fact, last year, while serving as a distinguished professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Engineering, he diagnosed the current housing market slump and the resulting risk of construction company bankruptcies as "a structural crisis caused by external factors, different in nature from the past," emphasizing that "all remaining regulations must be completely lifted."

His reputation for being free from speculation allegations also increases trust in Park. The total assets declared by Park and his family amount to about 1 billion KRW. Among these, the largest asset is an apartment in Sanbon-dong, Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, registered under Park’s name, valued at 456 million KRW. The price of this Sanbon-dong apartment, declared in early 2019 when he was LH president, was 356 million KRW, meaning it has increased by exactly 100 million KRW over about five years. The apartment in Bugok-dong, Gunpo-si, which he owned at the time (declared value of 400 million KRW in 2019), does not appear in the current declaration, suggesting it has been sold.

What is most hoped for from Park is a solution to the housing problems of ordinary citizens. The fact that someone who has served in public office for over 30 years and is about to take the helm of Korea’s land and transport policy owns only one apartment valued in the 400 million KRW range raises expectations that he has a deep understanding of the housing issues faced by the common people. In fact, he said, "From the perspective of public livelihood, the most important thing is to stabilize the real estate market so that there are no heartbreaking or frustrating incidents caused by real estate, whether it be sale prices, jeonse (long-term deposit lease) prices, or jeonse fraud."

If he passes the confirmation hearing, the prospect of an internally promoted minister emerging for the first time in over a decade is viewed positively for now. Previously, Minister Won Hee-ryong actively toured various sites under the grand theme of "breaking the modern housing caste system," but he was also criticized as a "celebrity minister" who focused more on self-promotion. Hopefully, Park’s determination to "build a dense housing safety net and restore the housing ladder to ease the public’s housing worries" will continue to the end and conclude successfully.