President Lee hits back at PPP criticism over housing prices: "Do they not even understand what I meant?"

According to The Financial News, President Lee Jae-myung has again pushed back against the People Power Party (PPP)'s criticism of his "real estate normalization" drive, reaffirming his commitment to policies aimed at stabilizing housing prices.
According to Cheong Wa Dae on the 1st, President Lee wrote on X (formerly Twitter) the previous day, "I shortened my remarks to say that 'bringing housing prices under control is easier than clearing illegal valley structures or achieving a stock index of 5,000 points,' and yet there are people who cannot grasp what that means," adding, "We will succeed in stabilizing housing prices, no matter what it takes."
President Lee went on to unpack what he meant by the controversial word "easier." He stressed that clearing illegal facilities in mountain valleys and pushing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) to 5,000 points "seemed impossible and were mocked as unrealistic goals, but we still achieved them by mobilizing every effort." He then said, "Stabilizing housing prices is not more difficult than that, and it is far more important, so we will ultimately succeed."
On the tools available to stabilize housing prices, he wrote, "There are plenty of measures that are legally and politically feasible, but in reality we have not used the most optimal and powerful tools because of political calculations over gains and losses," adding, "If we trust the people and free ourselves from such political calculations, this is not an impossible task." He further argued that if government policy is rational and legitimate, and backed by public support and a legal basis, then "resistance driven by private interests cannot succeed and will ultimately suffer losses."
He also addressed the phrase "there is no government that can beat the market, and no market that can beat the government," explaining that "the market and the government are in a relationship of both conflict and cooperation." In the end, he said, the point was that "the direction of the market and the speed of change are determined by how rational the decisions are and by the extent of the authority that is exercised."
President Lee again urged owners of multiple homes to sell. He stated, "Do not incur losses by unfairly resisting government policy. If you own multiple homes, take advantage of this last opportunity to be exempt from the heavy capital gains tax until May 9, 2026, enjoy the tax cut, and use this chance to sell."
Earlier, the People Power Party (PPP) had gone on the offensive, arguing in effect, "President Lee said stabilizing housing prices is easier than achieving a stock index of 5,000 points, so why has he failed to normalize the real estate market?" In response to this criticism, President Lee posted a lengthy explanation targeting the PPP's claims and refuting them.
west@fnnews.com Reporter Seong Seok-woo Reporter