Cho Kuk, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, proposed a large-scale supply of high-quality public rental housing as a solution to the real estate problem. The idea is to build large complexes of upgraded public rental housing on downtown land owned by the government and local governments to expand the housing safety net for young people and those without homes.
Cho gave a lecture as an instructor for the second session of the "Realmeter political school" held on the 28th at the National Assembly members' office building. In addition to Cho, several influential political figures served as instructors at the political school run by the polling agency Realmeter. With a merger between the Democratic Party of Korea and the Rebuilding Korea Party being pursued recently, interest in Cho's moves has grown.
Cho delivered a lecture on the theme that Korea should become an advanced country in social rights, and devoted a significant portion, including the Q&A, to real estate issues. Cho assessed that while Korea has joined the ranks of advanced countries in areas such as economic rights and civil liberties, it still remains far from advanced countries in social rights, where the state is responsible for the welfare of the people.
Cho said, "The core task in securing social rights is the real estate problem," adding, "As housing costs sharply reduce disposable income, quality of life, births, and even productivity are being shaken in a chain reaction." He continued, "At the center of asset polarization is real estate, and whether you own a home in the greater Seoul area has completely split the starting line," and added, "Under normal labor alone, it is practically impossible for young people and working-class people without homes to buy a house in the greater Seoul area."
Cho identified land expense as the cause of the real estate surge and proposed large-scale public rental housing as the solution. He argued, "The problem with Seoul housing prices is not the buildings but the land price," and said, "If we use land owned by the state or local governments to remove land sale rights and supply only buildings, housing prices can be significantly lowered." He said the structure in which private owners repeatedly redevelop and resell while owning the land, causing land price increases to feed into home price increases, must be broken.
Cho stressed that the structure that limits public rental housing to a housing measure for the poor, as it is now, must be abandoned. He said, "As it stands, the method of mixing rentals into the corners of private apartment complexes creates problems, such as children being labeled at school as 'kids who live in rental housing,'" and added, "If we create large complexes of high-quality public rental housing, schools, hospitals, and childcare facilities can be included within the complex, completing the living sphere itself. It will allow even the middle class to move in together."
Cho cited the land of the U.S. military base in Yongsan as an example. He said, "They say they will build Yongsan Park on the former base site, but while the park is created with taxes from all citizens, the gains from rising home prices go only to nearby owners," and added, "A park is necessary, but it is desirable to also build large-scale public rental housing near the site." He then mentioned the potential use of large state-owned and public lands, such as the Taereung Korea Military Academy site, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, and Seoul Air Base.
Public rental housing alone will not easily solve the real estate problem. Cho said it must be accompanied by the Lee Jae-myung administration's balanced regional development. He said, "If we do not change the structure that forces people to flock to Seoul as they do now, housing prices will rise again," and added, "This must go together with balanced regional development, local autonomy, and the transfer of public institutions."
Meanwhile, Cho also shared his thoughts on several political issues of the day. On constitutional reform for a two-term, four-year presidency, he said, "The incumbent, President Lee Jae-myung, would not be subject to it," and on judicial reform, he cited as models the United States, where judges are elected, and Germany, where legal and nonlegal professionals reach verdicts by consensus.