A bill will be introduced to make public the minutes of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Housing Policy Deliberation Committee (Jujeongsim), which has come under fire over missing data in the Oct. 15 measures. There is hope that releasing the Jujeongsim minutes, long dogged by backroom and rubber-stamp controversy, will improve the transparency of real estate policy.
Kim Jae-seop, a People Power Party lawmaker who serves as chairperson of the People Power Party Seoul Chapter's Special Committee on Restoring the Housing Ladder, held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 16th and said, "It is abnormal that decisions that determine people's property rights, such as the application of the price cap on new apartments and the designation of overheated speculation zones, are made in closed-door meetings," adding that he will push to amend the Framework Act on Housing.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT)'s Jujeongsim is a key decision-making body for real estate policy that decides on various regulated areas such as overheated speculation zones and the designation of areas subject to the price cap on new apartments. Of the 25 commissioners, excluding ex officio government members such as vice ministers of each ministry and heads of public institutions, there are also a considerable number of private-sector commissioners.
Jujeongsim has been embroiled in various controversies, including rubber-stamping and behind-closed-doors decisions. Even though it is a body that decides real estate policies closely tied to people's lives, not only has the list of commissioners never been disclosed, the minutes have never been released either. In Dec. 2021, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) amended the Housing Act and has since prepared and kept Jujeongsim minutes and written resolutions, but it has not disclosed them, saying disclosure would chill commissioners' free remarks.
Kim Jae-seop said, "The Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee also discloses its minutes. There is no reason for only Jujeongsim to be an exception and remain 'in the dark,'" arguing for the disclosure of Jujeongsim minutes. He said disclosure is fully possible with safeguards such as redacting only speakers' names.
An aide to Kim Jae-seop said, "We are working toward introducing the amendment," adding, "If things go quickly, it could be introduced within the year."
After the Oct. 15 real estate measures were announced, criticism has mounted over Jujeongsim's "in the dark" decision-making. There is controversy over whether the government intentionally omitted dwelling price statistics for September, the month just before the announcement, to designate all of Seoul as a regulated area. The cancellation suit filed by the Reform Party with the Seoul Administrative Court is set for its first hearing on Jan. 15.