There continues to be a vacuum in leadership, with the Vice Minister 1 of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the government policy "control tower," as well as the heads of the core public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) — the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) — all absent. As controversy persists over the Oct. 15 measures and the shortage of dwellings supply in the greater Seoul area grows severe, concern is mounting over the prolonged lack of leaders to steer these organizations.
According to the industry on the 13th, LH plans to form an executive recommendation committee as early as the end of this month to begin selecting its next president. Considering that it typically takes two to three months from open call to appointment, the consensus is that it will be difficult for LH to have a new president appointed within the year. LH plays a key role in supplying 1.35 million households in the greater Seoul area, the core of the Sept. 7 measures. Of these, it must supply 556,000 households (about 41%) through direct implementation, placing a heavy responsibility on the corporation.
However, former President Lee Han-jun abruptly tendered his resignation in August this year, five months before his term was to end, and the Lee Jae-myung administration delayed accepting the resignation for nearly three months before approving his dismissal late last month, creating a vacancy. In addition, with Vice President Lee Sang-uk's term set to end this month, LH is set to face a situation in which both the president and vice president will be absent until early next year.
Along with LH, the post of Vice Minister 1 at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), who would substantively lead the Lee Jae-myung administration's real estate policy, has been vacant for three weeks. The Vice Minister 1 is the working-level official overseeing dwellings, construction, and urban policy, playing a pivotal role in the greater Seoul supply plan. However, with former Vice Minister Lee Sang-kyung abruptly resigning in mid-last month over a controversy about derogatory real estate remarks and suspicions of gap investment (purchasing dwellings with a jeonse deposit), a search is underway for a successor. Because vice-ministerial appointments are led by the presidential office, the timing of the personnel decision is difficult to predict.
HUG, which is responsible for an important pillar of dwellings supply, has also been operating under the acting leadership of Yoon Myeong-gyu for about four months since former President Yoo Byung-tae expressed his intention to resign. HUG's executive recommendation committee conducted an open recruitment for president from the 30th of last month to the 7th, showing the fastest pace among the three institutions. There were more than 10 applicants, and in the industry, former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choi In-ho is being mentioned as a leading candidate. HUG's recommendation committee plans to narrow the field to a shortlist of three to five qualified candidates through document screening and interviews.
An industry official said, "Of course there are working-level officials, but with the long Chuseok holiday and the National Assembly inspection, the replacement of leaders who can steer the organizations was delayed, raising considerable concern about a governance vacuum," adding, "In the case of appointing the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Vice Minister 1, expectations are growing that results could come as early as next week for organizational stability and to drive real estate policy."
Amid this, a "statistical distortion" dispute between the ruling and opposition parties is intensifying over the Oct. 15 real estate regulatory package that designated all of Seoul and 12 areas in Gyeonggi as regulated area (speculative overheated districts and areas subject to adjustment). The opposition says the government's intentional omission of September Korea Real Estate Board (REB) statistics violates the Housing Act and has signaled an administrative lawsuit. If September statistics are applied, 10 areas — Seoul's Jungnang, Gangbuk, Dobong, Eunpyeong, and Geumcheon districts, and in Gyeonggi, Uiwang, Suwon Jang-an, and Suwon Paldal, among others — do not meet the criteria for speculative overheated districts.
Earlier, through the Sept. 7 measures, the government announced that it would break ground on a total of 1.35 million new dwellings in the greater Seoul area by 2030. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has set out a policy to flesh out this plan within the year. Kim Gyu-cheol, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Housing and Land Office Director, said at a press briefing the previous day, "A supply plan including specific sites and methods will be discussed in earnest at a meeting of relevant ministers to be launched soon, and we plan to directly explain comprehensive details to the public within the year."