Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), which is expanding the supply of public dwellings, will increase its workforce. As the housing supply policy of the Lee Jae-myung government focuses on public interests, LH's role is expected to expand, leading to an increase in its workforce. Recently, President Lee Jae-myung pointed out the structure in which LH sells land to the private sector after developing it, strengthening the model where LH is responsible for the entire process of supplying public dwellings.
According to the public institution management information system Alio on the 25th, LH recently approved a partial amendment to its organizational regulations reflecting changes in workforce based on the notification of the government's 2025 public institution personnel increase results. Accordingly, LH's workforce increased by 45, from 8,760 to 8,805.
LH's board of directors noted in the board meeting that "active efforts are needed, including increasing the workforce, to ensure the smooth implementation of government policies such as expanding housing supply and supporting victims of rental fraud."
Since the revelation of the land speculation incident involving former and current employees in the third new town in 2021, LH has been continuously reducing its workforce. However, starting this year, the workforce has begun to increase again.
The enlargement of LH's workforce is due to its growing importance in the supply of dwellings. In particular, as housing prices have become more unstable due to a shortage of housing supply since the new government took office, LH's role is becoming more crucial as it pushes for the expansion of public dwellings.
Lee Sang-kyung, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and regarded as President Lee's real estate strategist, highlighted the expansion of "public dwellings" as his inaugural message. The Vice Minister stated on the 30th of last month, "We must continuously supply affordable dwellings for the homeless, including youth and newlyweds, and make efforts to provide public rental housing for residential welfare."
The expansion of LH's role in supplying public dwellings is influenced not only by the increase in supply scale but also by the anticipated reform of the overall structure of public dwelling supply.
During a recent cabinet meeting, President Lee pointed out that there is a fundamental problem with the structure in which LH develops land and sells it to the private sector. He indicated that the method of LH selling public land to corporations for profit and reinvesting it in public dwelling projects is an issue.
If LH breaks away from its existing business structure, it is likely that LH will directly take charge of land development rather than private corporations. If LH takes on both project implementation and dwelling construction, the supply of public sales and rental dwellings is expected to increase significantly.
Kim Yoon-duk, the Minister candidate at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, also remarked that "the president expressed a wish for a more proactive approach rather than a passive one. In the case of LH reform, beyond employee issues, big-scale reforms that might change the structural landscape should be contemplated, and I have received instructions to engage proactively and aggressively."
An LH official stated that the recent increase in workforce is aimed at "expanding the supply of rental dwellings and ensuring housing stability for the underprivileged," adding that "based on the increase, we plan to do our best to implement government policy projects such as expanding housing supply and revitalizing the construction market."