President Lee: "Considering Major Holding Burdens on Companies’ Non-Business Real Estate"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea on the 9th ordered a review of measures that would "impose substantial holding burdens" on companies’ non-business real estate.
During the discussion at the first plenary session of the National Economic Advisory Council, held at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae, President Lee said, "By any means necessary, we must make it impossible to engage in real estate speculation from now on." He added, "I am convinced that Korea’s industrial and economic system will function properly only when we make it impossible to run real estate in a speculative way and profit from it."
He went on to stress, "It is a very important task to ensure that capital moves from unproductive sectors to productive ones, and within productive sectors, to more efficient companies and industries." Woochan Kim, a member of the Growth Economy Subcommittee, also pointed out, "Many companies are still cash-rich and hold a considerable amount of non-business real estate."
In response, President Lee said, "Did we not once impose sweeping regulations in the past? They seem to have almost disappeared now, so I would like the Policy Office to review this issue as a separate item." He continued, "Let us consider measures that would impose significant holding burdens on portions that companies are keeping on a large scale without any real need or immediate use."
President Lee also hinted at the possibility of expanding the scope of real estate regulations. He said, "In any case, after the current housing issue, we will move on to farmland, and then to general real estate. Since this has come up today, let us review it in advance."

west@fnnews.com Seong Seok-woo Reporter