President Lee Calls Reports on Tenant Renewal Rights and "China Buying Up Homes" a Clear Distortion and Manipulation

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[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung on the 20th ordered relevant ministries to respond firmly to some reports on real estate policy, calling them "a clear act of manipulation and distortion."
At the 22nd State Council of South Korea meeting and the 9th Emergency Economic Review Meeting held that day at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae, Lee referred to reports on the sale of homes owned by non-resident single-home owners and said, "They wrote it as if tenant renewal rights were being violated. Does that even make sense?"
When Kim Yi-tak, first vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, replied, "That is absolutely not true," Lee explained, "That is obviously the tenant's right. If the tenant does not agree, the reduction cannot be made. The tenant's renewal claim right remains intact."
Lee then said, "Why would they fabricate an article like that?" and instructed officials to "respond firmly to such cases."
He added, "They did it on purpose. Looking at what was written, it seems they knew exactly what they were doing," and criticized the report, saying, "They distorted it knowingly and wrote it as if tenants had to be forced out within two years."
He continued, "How can they write articles like that and disparage state affairs? If you look closely, it is completely implausible. It is a clear act of manipulation and distortion."
Lee also took issue with reports on foreign purchases of homes in South Korea. Referring to another article that said "Chinese buyers snapped up homes dumped by multi-home owners," he asked, "Why write such a false article? If you look closely at the statistics, everything is there. They are doing it deliberately to stir up anti-China sentiment."
He also turned to the Ministry of Justice and asked, "Isn't there a penalty provision for clearly writing fake news?" He added, "Please review whether spreading falsehoods under the name of journalism and causing policy confusion can be punished."
He went on to say, "It may not be easy to punish fake articles that distort and manipulate government policy right away," but stressed, "Relevant ministries should file requests for corrections or press remedies and make sure such cases are held fully accountable."
Lee added, "We work hard and make policy decisions, and then they distort and manipulate them in strange ways to create confusion. That sends a very bad signal to the market. They are truly awful people."
west@fnnews.com Sung Seok-woo Reporter