Opposition Steps Up Against October 15 Real Estate Measures... Cheon Haram: "Filing Administrative Lawsuit," Bae Hyunjin: "Virtuous Cycle Broken"

Reform New Party Points Out Exclusion of September Statistics in Designating Regulated Areas
People Power Party: "Seoul's Redevelopment Virtuous Cycle Disrupted"

Lawmakers from the People Power Party and the Reform New Party have begun to politicize the issue of the October 15 real estate measures, which have emerged as a major vulnerability for the government and the ruling party. With the 9th nationwide local elections scheduled for June 3 next year, they are positioning the real estate issue as an opportunity to go on the offensive.

On November 5, Cheon Haram, floor leader of the Reform New Party, held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and announced plans to file an administrative lawsuit within this month demanding the cancellation of the October 15 real estate measures, which expanded the designation of speculative and regulated areas to the entire city of Seoul.

Cheon Haram, a member of the Reform New Party, is holding a press conference on the 5th at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, pointing out the illegality of the October 15 real estate measures. Photo by Yonhap News

Cheon argued that the process of designating all of Seoul as a regulated area selectively used only favorable statistics, claiming procedural illegality. He called for the withdrawal of regulated area designations for Dobong, Gangbuk, Jungnang, and Geumcheon districts in Seoul, as well as Uiwang City, Jungwon District in Seongnam City, and Jangan and Paldal districts in Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province. According to Cheon, statistics from September showed that these areas did not meet the criteria for rising housing prices. Under the current Enforcement Decree of the Housing Act, a region can only be designated as a regulated area if its housing price increase rate over the past three months exceeds 1.3 times the inflation rate. The government used statistics from June to August to designate these regulated areas.

In response to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol's explanation that "September statistics were not available at the time the real estate measures were announced," Cheon countered, "The National Housing Price Trend Survey has been released on the 15th of every month since June 2021. It was already announced that the September survey would be released on that day (the 15th). Nevertheless, the Lee Jaemyung administration convened the Housing Policy Deliberation Committee one day before the official release of the September statistics and announced the real estate measures on the very day the September statistics were published. The September statistics were deliberately excluded."

The People Power Party has launched a full-scale offensive, raising issues such as delays in redevelopment projects caused by the real estate measures. At a policy forum at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Assemblywoman Bae Hyunjin stated, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government under Oh Sehoon has consistently pursued policies to create a housing ecosystem where people move into newly built homes and older homes are redeveloped. However, the Lee Jaemyung administration has disrupted this virtuous cycle of redevelopment and instead put forward an ill-conceived plan to proceed with redevelopment through public development."