The Blue House will hold a real estate policy grand debate on the 23rd with President Lee Jae-myung in attendance. The purpose is to broadly gather opinions from a wide range of market participants—not only government officials but also market experts, academia, and the general public—and reexamine real estate policy across supply, finance, and taxation. Before the government's tax reform plan is announced no later than early next month, the government will hold three rounds of ministry-by-ministry debates and then compile them at a national grand debate to reflect in policy.
Kim Yong-beom, Blue House policy chief, announced plans to hold the "real estate policy grand debate" at the Blue House press room on the morning of the 10th, saying, "The government has pushed policies under the principles of expanding supply and stabilizing the market," and, "We are reviewing reasonable improvement measures for the overall tax system, including holding taxes and transaction taxes, based on commissioned studies and overseas cases."
Kim said, "The government does not think real estate policy can be completed by the government's judgment alone," adding, "Market conditions keep changing, and the difficulties people feel are diverse." Kim also said, "There will be voices from the field that the government has not been able to fully catch," and, "What is needed now is not for the government to unilaterally present answers, but a process in which the public and experts craft solutions together."
◇ After separate debates by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Ministry of Finance, a comprehensive debate on the 23rd
According to the Blue House, from the 14th to the 16th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Financial Services Commission, and the Ministry of Finance and Economy will each hold public debates on the themes of supply, finance, and taxation to hear opinions from experts and the public. Then on the 23rd, the Blue House will host a grand debate with President Lee in attendance to discuss the various opinions presented so far and seek policy direction.
The specific plan will be disclosed at a joint government briefing on the 12th. Kim said, "The ministries will announce plans for the debates on the 14th–16th in the form of a joint briefing," adding, "There is basically no restriction on participation, and the ministries have pools that include scholars in various fields, on-site experts, YouTubers, and others with different views." Kim added, "I heard that after joining the Sejong moms' online community, that's where the most information is."
Kim also explained that the difficulties young people and newlyweds face due to loan regulations became a main backdrop for this debate. Kim said, "When one bank cut the loan limit from 600 million won to 300 million won, I got a lot of text messages even this morning," adding, "There is concern about whether it is right to ignore the voices of young people who are getting married, dual-income couples who are confident in their income over the next 30–40 years, but who do not have money now."
Kim said, "We will make the online opinion-gathering channel open to anyone to freely submit opinions regardless of time and region, and we will thoroughly reflect the opinions received in the debate discussions and policy review process after sufficient review," adding, "We will listen more to voices from the field and proactively embrace better alternatives."