Lee Jae Myung: "We will provide large-scale public rental housing early using excess tax revenue"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung said on the 5th, "We will use excess tax revenue to provide large volumes of public long-term rental housing for young people and the middle class at an early date." He also reaffirmed the government's plan to pursue adjustments to household lending and tax reform alongside expanding the housing supply.
President Lee wrote this on X, formerly Twitter, that day while sharing an article reporting that apartment listings in the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa) had increased by 10,000 in a year. He stressed, "Even if things are difficult right now, we cannot allow the Republic of Korea to face another lost 30 years after passing the real-estate bomb around."
Regarding the causes of housing price instability, President Lee assessed, "The sharp decline in permits and approvals, centered on Seoul, from 2022 to 2025 led to a substantial drop in housing supply after a time lag. This is the biggest short-term cause of housing price instability." As medium- to long-term causes, he cited "the concentration of population and resources in the Capital Metropolitan Area, excessive lending that encourages housing speculation, and an unfair tax system."
He explained that housing supply conditions are improving. President Lee forecast, "Since this government took office, permits and approvals as well as construction starts have risen sharply, and the development of new housing sites and the conversion of existing sites and buildings for residential use are gaining speed. Supply will also increase substantially soon."
To ease the concentration in the Capital Metropolitan Area, he proposed relocating government agencies and public enterprises to regions outside the capital, along with launching three major mega-projects and seven seed projects focused on regional development. He added, "Household lending, which is at a world-leading level, will be adjusted, and tax reform in line with tax justice will also be carried out."
He also urged caution regarding the share of real-estate assets and the scale of household lending. President Lee wrote, "In particular, the Republic of Korea has a high proportion of real-estate assets by global standards and a large amount of household lending." He added, "Please closely monitor the flow of funds toward productive finance and international trends in benchmark interest rates."
He also emphasized, "Breaking free from the real-estate republic is a national task for the Republic of Korea. The Lee Jae Myung government will definitely keep its promise to break free from a real-estate speculation republic."
According to the report shared by President Lee, Asil, a real-estate information company, counted 27,590 apartment sale listings in the Gangnam, Seocho and Songpa districts as of the 1st. That was an increase of 10,062 from 17,528 a year earlier. Compared with the time the tax reform proposal was announced on August 3, the number rose by 5,408, or about 24%, over two months.
[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter