The Reform Party filed a suit on the 11th to cancel and suspend the effect of the Oct. 15 real estate measures. It said the government intentionally manipulated home price statistics to select regulated areas and therefore must withdraw the measures.
Cheon Ha-ram, floor leader of the Reform Party, met with reporters at the Seoul Administrative Court in Seocho District, Seoul, on the morning of the day and said, "The government went on a spree issuing the Oct. 15 real estate measures illegally, lying with political intent while hiding them from the public even though the September statistics clearly exist," and added, "We came to file an administrative lawsuit and an application for an injunction to rein in the Lee Jae-myung administration's runaway even through the courts."
Through the Oct. 15 package, the government designated all of Seoul and 12 cities and districts in Gyeonggi as regulated areas, and the criteria used then to select regulated areas were statistics from June to August. According to the floor leader Cheon's explanation, if the latest figures prior to the announcement—the July to September statistics, which include September—had been reflected, eight areas, including Jungnang, Gangbuk, Dobong, and Geumcheon districts in Seoul and Uiwang, Jungwon District in Seongnam, and Jangan and Paldal districts in Suwon, would not have been included as regulated areas.
Cheon said, "The government claimed it had no September statistics and had no choice but to use August data, but it was revealed that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had already secured the statistics on the 13th, two days before the announcement, and the presidential office also obtained the September statistics on the 14th," and argued, "They should have reflected the September statistics to minimize the infringement of the people's property rights."
Cheon said, "Even at ordinary corporations, if you announce October measures when September statistics exist but reflect only August statistics, the responsible executive would be fired," and added, "Kim Yun-duk, Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who unlawfully infringed on the people's rights, is unfit for the job."