Opposition on split between the Blue House and ruling party over property tax: “Capital-region ruling party lawmakers are just putting on an act... a catastrophe has begun”

[Financial News] The People Power Party criticized the disagreement as “the beginning of a catastrophe” after the Blue House and Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers from the Seoul metropolitan area clashed over whether to strengthen the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax (CRHT) for owners of a single home who do not live in it.
People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said on social media (SNS) on the 11th, “Above all, Seoul apartment prices have risen for 91 consecutive weeks because of the president’s misguided real estate regulations. The supply of jeonse rentals is drying up, and monthly rents are soaring. Monthly rents of 3 million won or more are becoming commonplace even in Seoul’s Nodogang and Geumgwan-gu areas.”
Jeong referred to President Lee’s remark at a Cabinet meeting on the 10th that “anyone caught engaging in illegal real estate activity will suffer ruin,” and said, “Who is responsible for melting away people’s assets in this housing hell? President Lee, of all people, is forcing the public to suffer the pain of ‘family ruin.’”
He argued, “Meanwhile, lawmakers representing the Seoul metropolitan area in the DPK have begun to rebel against the Blue House’s real estate tax reform plan. After leaving the people to suffer all this time, I don’t know why they are now asking for the tax reform plan to be revised. If DPK lawmakers had even the slightest commitment to real estate policy, they should at least have stopped the president when he was boasting that the real estate problem was easier to solve than a valley improvement project.”
He urged, “The problems with the Lee Jae-myung administration’s real estate policy are not limited to the amount of the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax deduction for owners of a single home who do not live in it. What the ruling party should demand of the government is not partial revisions to the tax reform plan based on shallow vote-counting, but a full review of the plan centered on punitive taxation and a complete reversal of the policy of tightening lending restrictions.”
Jeong wrote, “What DPK lawmakers are doing now is merely a belated performance, begging to be spared in the next general election. The public will not be fooled by such a poor performance. It is already common knowledge that real estate prices soar whenever the DPK takes power.”
Policy committee chair Im Lee-ja said on social media, “The rift between the Lee Jae-myung administration and the ruling party that we feared is now coming fully into view. The name ‘party-government consultations’ rings hollow as the government and ruling party voice different positions and only throw the market into confusion.”
Im cited the proposed strengthening of the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax, abolition of the long-term holding special deduction, the Reconstruction Excess Profit Recovery System, and consideration of raising the fair market value ratio, saying, “Can a tax bomb bring the real estate market under control? It was already confirmed under the Moon Jae-in administration that taxes cannot control home prices. Tax reform must be carefully prepared in step with housing supply measures, with a medium- to long-term roadmap of at least three years.”
Im added, “Don’t make the market even worse with election-driven stopgap measures. Let’s completely withdraw the tax reform plan put forward by the government and go back to square one to review the tangled web of real estate taxes and policies, including the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax, the Reconstruction Excess Profit Recovery System, and the long-term holding special deduction.”

[email protected] Lee Hae-ram Reporter