Cheong Wa Dae announces July 23 national housing forum to be chaired by President Lee

Cheong Wa Dae announced that President Lee Jae Myung will chair a national public forum on real estate policy on July 23, saying the government wants to hear directly from market participants — not just expert analysis — about conditions on the ground.

Kim Yong-beom, chief policy secretary at Cheong Wa Dae, made the announcement Friday, saying the president would personally attend the forum to discuss the wide range of views that have been put forward and explore a policy direction.

Participation in the forum will be open to all members of the public. Kim said the government would also collect opinions from those unable to attend in person. "We will set up an online channel where anyone, regardless of time or location, can freely submit their views," he said. "All submissions will be thoroughly reviewed and faithfully reflected in the forum discussions and the policy review process."

Before the presidential forum, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Finance and Economy will each hold separate public forums from Tuesday through Thursday, covering housing supply, financial regulation and taxation, respectively, to gather input from experts and the general public.

The government said the July 23 forum would not be convened with any predetermined conclusion in mind, and that President Lee would listen directly to a broad range of views for genuine reflection in policy.

"The government does not believe real estate policy can be completed by its own judgment alone," Kim said. "Market conditions keep changing, and the difficulties people feel on the ground are varied. There will be voices from the field that the government has missed. What is needed now is not the government unilaterally presenting answers, but a process in which citizens and experts work together to find solutions." He added that the government did not consider itself to have all the right answers and would actively embrace better alternatives as it listened more closely to voices from the field.

On the importance of housing policy, Kim said: "Housing is the issue most directly tied to people's lives. The burden and anxiety around home prices, jeonse and monthly rent, mortgages and homeownership are difficulties that many people feel in their daily lives. The government takes this market situation seriously and is reviewing policy with residential stability for the public as its top priority."

Kim also reaffirmed the government's principle of expanding supply while stabilizing the market. "Supply plans are being carried out without disruption," he said, adding that the government was simultaneously implementing market-stabilization measures in areas showing signs of overheating — citing the recent designation of land transaction permit zones in Dongtan, Giheung and Guri.

The forum is expected to cover the full range of real estate policy, including supply expansion, tax and financial regulation, reconstruction and redevelopment, the jeonse market and measures to protect end-users. Property holding taxes and capital gains tax reform are seen as the central issues, particularly given that the government has set a deadline of late July to early August for releasing a tax reform plan. "There is a deadline for announcing the tax reform plan — late July at the earliest, early August at the latest," Kim said. "We are reviewing rational improvement measures covering the full range of taxes, including holding taxes and transaction taxes, drawing on research and overseas cases."

Kim acknowledged public concern that the government might not hold to its stated principles on real estate. "There are worries that the basic principles the president and the government have announced may not be upheld," he said. "We will listen with an open mind to a wide range of views." At the same time, he cautioned that policy could not be decided by popular vote in a public forum. "The government has various public-interest objectives — residential stability, tax and assessment fairness, among others," he said.

Kim also said that online parenting communities were a valuable source of real-time information. "I hear that mom cafes have the most information," he said. "Housing and education are both important, and an astonishing number of things are happening in that one sphere alone. Listening broadly will help in shaping policy." Kim had made similar remarks at a Kwanhun Club forum last month, saying the government intended to gather a wide range of opinions and would make policy decisions carefully after open debate that included people with direct stakes in the market, including administrators of parenting online communities.

Kim also addressed the divergence between central government housing policy and the approach taken by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Asked how the government planned to build common ground with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Kim said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the city were in constant consultation and that the city's importance as a local government could not be overstated. However, he said the July 23 forum was a central government matter. "Seoul City is welcome to come and make recommendations, but I don't think this is something to be done jointly," he said.

In a radio interview Monday, Kim said real estate prices were already showing worrying signs and that the situation would become far more pronounced toward year-end and into next year. "I think we need to find solutions with a sense of urgency," he said. He added that the government was reviewing policy across multiple tiers — including supplying long-term rental housing suited to younger generations' preferences, expanding purchase-and-lease supply through the Korea Land and Housing Corp., and addressing the jeonse and monthly rent market. At a Korea Economic Daily Millennium Forum on Wednesday, he said that as incomes rise and demand for quality housing grows, the overall cap on household lending regulations may need to be reconsidered.

Meanwhile, President Lee continued the second day of his state visit to Mongolia on Friday, with a schedule that included visiting the Lee Tae-jun Memorial Hall, meeting with Korean residents abroad, and receiving the Mongolian National Assembly speaker and prime minister before a state dinner. Observers noted it was unusual for a senior Cheong Wa Dae aide to brief reporters on the sensitive topic of real estate policy while the president was traveling overseas.