The 'National Grand Debate on Real Estate Policy' held on July 23rd and 27th. [Photo=Yonhap News]

The 'National Grand Debate on Real Estate Policy,' hosted by the Lee Jae-myung administration under the pretense of listening to the public, was no debate at all. It was not a platform to hear diverse public opinions or to examine the flaws in current policy; it was a massive propaganda stage orchestrated to justify tax hikes and strengthened regulations based on conclusions already drawn.

The debate focused heavily on increasing property taxes, implementing differential taxation on ultra-high-priced and non-residential homes, and restricting jeonse (lump-sum deposit) loans. President Lee Jae-myung also expressed his general agreement with the necessity of increasing property taxes.

The attendees, handpicked from the administration's own hardline faction, took turns repeating the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate agenda, calling for "higher taxes" and "stricter regulations on homeownership."

It was a "leftist banquet" featuring individuals such as the chairperson of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) Land and Housing Committee and a deputy chairperson of the Lee Jae-myung Real Estate Reform Committee, who also serves as co-representative of the Suwon-Osan-Hwaseong Candlelight Action, all appearing under the guise of ordinary citizens.

This was not a national debate, but a "people's propaganda session" designed to impose government policy onto the public.

Do not treat citizens who own just one home as speculators

Citizens work and save for decades to afford a single home. That home is not merely a building; it is a sanctuary for the family, an asset for retirement, and a fruit of labor they wish to pass on to their children.

Yet, the Lee Jae-myung administration treats even those who own only one home with suspicion—as if they were speculators—simply because the home is expensive or because they do not currently reside in it.

People may live in different regions due to their jobs. They may rent out their own homes to live elsewhere due to children's education, caring for aging parents, medical treatment, livelihoods, or family matters. Citizens have the freedom to decide where they live.

If the government imposes additional taxes solely because a person "does not live in their own house," it is essentially coercing the public into specific living arrangements. The government is effectively dictating where citizens should live, when they must sell their homes, and what assets they are permitted to own.

Property rights guaranteed by the Constitution are not privileges granted only with government permission. If the government forces citizens to dispose of their homes by making taxes and loan regulations unbearable, the result—regardless of the legal terminology—is a de facto confiscation of property.

Is Lee Jae-myung attempting to implement a North Korean-style land reform for the sake of a socialist revolution?

Do not shift the blame for failed supply onto homeowners

The fundamental solution to the housing price problem is not to punish the public. It is to supply sufficient housing in regions where people want to live, normalize reconstruction and redevelopment, and ensure that genuine buyers can access reasonable financing.

However, the Lee Jae-myung administration prioritizes tax and loan regulations over expanding supply. You cannot solve housing issues with the mindset of punishing buyers when there is a housing shortage, blocking loans when there is a lack of jeonse, and raising taxes when the market has frozen.

The responsibility for policy failure must not be shifted onto homeowners. Stop this real estate politics of divisiveness immediately—creating imaginary enemies like "high-priced homeowners," "multi-homeowners," and "non-resident single-homeowners"—simply to cover up the administration's incompetence.

Lee Jae-myung's expedient real estate transaction through collateral registration

President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse recently sold their Bundang apartment, acquired in 1998 for approximately 360 million won, for 2.9 billion won. During the transaction, they registered a collateral right of approximately 1.77 billion won against the buyer to secure the remaining balance. The Blue House explained that this was a normal transaction that considered the buyer's circumstances and was related to the succession of reconstruction membership status.

However, it is precisely for this reason that the public asks:

Why do you criticize ordinary citizens for using loans and jeonse to purchase homes as "speculation that drives up prices," while allowing a method in your own apartment sale that effectively involves the seller waiting for a massive remaining balance?

If you claim that housing is not an asset for profit-making, why did you collect the full market price of 2.9 billion won instead of your original acquisition cost? If you truly reject the asset value of housing, shouldn't the President himself have sold it for 360 million won?

Are loans for the public "speculation," while the President's collateral registration is a "consideration"? Is the public's capital gain "unearned income," while the President's capital gain is a "justifiable market price"?

If the President is the only one granted exceptions, that is not the rule of law. The standards the President demands of the people must be applied most strictly to the President himself.

The Liberty Democratic Party demands the following:

First, completely withdraw the anti-liberal real estate policies that use taxes to coerce the public's living arrangements and home disposition.

Second, transparently disclose to the public the details of Lee Jae-myung's Bundang apartment sale, including the 1.77 billion won collateral registration process, the relationship with the buyer, payment conditions, and tax-related issues.

Third, let relevant authorities thoroughly verify with the same standards whether it was appropriate for Lee Jae-myung's transaction to utilize a method that is effectively private financing, while the public's access to financial services remains restricted.

The Republic of Korea is not a socialist state where the government rations housing, decides where citizens must live, and recovers individual assets through taxes.

The masters of the Republic of Korea are the citizens, not the government. The people's homes are not a tax vault to cover the administration's policy failures.

The Lee Jae-myung administration must immediately stop its real estate politics that seek to control the property and freedom of its citizens. The Liberty Democratic Party will fight to the end alongside the people to protect private property rights, the market economy, and the freedom of residence.

July 27, 2026

Attorney Ko Young-joo, Liberty Democratic Party