On the 26th, presidential senior secretary for public affairs Lee Gyu-yeon said of President Lee Jae-myung's remarks on the need to strengthen real estate taxation, "There is no way he would do that on the spur of the moment," adding, "He likely had the policy office and others review it and then received a report." It was taken to mean that it was not just an offhand idea, but something that could be realized as policy.
Appearing on the YouTube channel "Baek Un-gi's Jeong-eori TV" that day, the senior secretary, referring to the president's post on X, said, "The president has often talked about and expressed concern over the 'real estate doomsday theory,'" adding, "I have heard him worry that it seems we are headed in the shape of 'Japan's lost 30 years,' and that the country could stagger and go backward because of real estate."
Regarding the plan to end the suspension of heavier transfer taxes on May 9, he said, "This is not the release of a new tax hike plan," adding, "If necessary, it could be extended for another one to two years, but the president believes it is abnormal for it to be automatically extended indefinitely." When the host asked, "Do you see this as the process of normalizing an abnormal situation?" the senior secretary answered, "Yes."
Earlier, on the 23rd and 25th, the president posted multiple messages on X (formerly Twitter) saying that "ending the suspension of heavier capital gains taxes on multiple-home owners" and "reducing the long-term holding special deduction for one non-residential home" needed to be reviewed. The intent was to revive, as originally designed, the heavier transfer taxes on multiple-home owners that the previous Yoon Suk-yeol administration suspended year after year, and to also review a plan to reduce the long-term holding special deduction for a one-home "investment" not actually used as a residence.
On this, the senior secretary said, "First of all, for multiple-home owners, isn't it time they put that (house) on the market? Isn't listing it for sale the right thing to do?" adding, "The president has said several times that one person owning multiple homes, not even living in them, and engaging in speculation with them is a path to the country's ruin."