S. Korea Excludes Officials With Multiple Homes From Real Estate Policymaking

(MENAFN- IANS) Seoul, March 22 (IANS) President Lee Jae Myung said on Sunday he has instructed his office and the Cabinet to exclude owners of multiple homes from making real estate policies, as his administration cracks down on long-running housing speculation.

Lee shared the instruction on his X account, saying he has called for the exclusion of multiple home owners, expensive home owners who do not live in them and owners of "excessive" properties from the discussion, formulation, reporting and approval of home and real estate policies.

"Escaping the real estate republic is a central task for the grand transformation of the Republic of Korea," he wrote. "There cannot be even a 0.1 percent flaw or hole when it comes to real estate or home policies."

Lee has made it a key goal of his administration to tackle speculative home ownership, stabilise the property market and increase public access to homes, reports Yonhap news agency

In his post, he said there is no reason to criticise multiple home owners or expensive home owners per se, but that the problem lies in the public officials who devised tax, banking and regulatory systems to make multiple home ownership favourable.

"If the public officials who created or turned a blind eye to these systems abuse these flawed systems to make speculative investments, it would only be right for them to not only receive criticism, but also sanctions," he said. "Wouldn't it be proper for them to be excluded from real estate policies even now?"

Lee has sought to demonstrate his commitment to tackling the real estate issue by putting his private home up for sale at a below-market price.

The government is also set to end the temporary suspension of heavy capital gains taxes in May.

-IANS

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