President Lee Jae-myung said at a New Year's press conference on the 21st that he will announce a plan to supply dwellings soon. On the won-dollar exchange rate, he offered the outlook that "in a month or two, it will fall to around 1,400 won," and on real estate taxation he added, under the premise that it would be a "last resort," that "there is no reason not to use it."
Lee held the New Year's press conference on the morning of the 21st at the State Guest House in Cheong Wa Dae. It ran for nearly three hours, beyond the originally scheduled 90 minutes.
Lee stated his position on several economic issues, including the exchange rate, real estate, and the transfer of the Yongin semiconductor cluster. Asked about measures to address the exchange rate, he said, "According to the responsible authorities, in a month or two it is expected to fall to around 1,400 won," and explained, "The won's exchange rate tends to be linked to the yen, and compared with Japan, our depreciation has been less."
He went on, "The exchange rate is not a phenomenon unique to Korea, so it is difficult for only Korea to restore it to the original state," adding, "We will continue to discover feasible tools and work to stabilize the exchange rate."
On a question about real estate measures, he said, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will soon announce a plan to supply dwellings," adding, "We will present numbers that are concrete and realistic rather than abstract." On using the tax code to rein in home prices, he said, "It is not desirable," but added, "If it becomes necessary, there is no reason not to use it just because it is not desirable."
He directly mentioned the property holding tax as well. Lee said, "There are suggestions to apply it only to properties over 5 billion won because doing a holding tax is politically improper and could be a burden," adding, "If it goes beyond an appropriate level and becomes a social problem, the tax code should of course be mobilized." However, Lee added, "I have said we would avoid using taxes to control home prices if at all possible, and it would be better as a last resort," and "For now, I do not strongly agree with making real estate policy through the tax code."
On the idea of transferring the Yongin semiconductor cluster to Saemangeum, he said, "It is not easy to overturn government policy," but left room by adding, "We can persuade or induce."
Regarding the Yongin semiconductor cluster, Lee pointed to power and water supply issues and laid out the principle of "jisan jiso (producing where it is consumed)." Jisan jiso is the concept of producing energy where it will be used. For the Yongin semiconductor cluster to run, electricity produced in the southern region would have to be brought to Yongin via transmission towers, and he expressed a negative view of that plan.
Lee said, "They say the Yongin semiconductor cluster needs 13 gigawatts of power, which would require 10 nuclear power plants. Are you going to build nuclear power plants in Yongin?" He added, "It is not easy to handle it by building a few gas power plants, so we need to persuade and help people understand these points well to make it beneficial to the corporations."
On the recent steady rise of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), he said it was "on the way to normal," adding, "It is important not to artificially prop up stock prices but to normalize them and increase the people's wealth." On retirement pensions, he said, "The return is lower than bank interest," adding, "Retirement pensions are key assets for old age, and we should discuss whether it is right for them to be squandered like this. Turning them into a fund is one option, but if the majority do not want it, we will not do it."