The president of the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG), a post left vacant for more than half a year, is expected to be appointed this week. Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choi In-ho has reportedly been tapped. With a head of the public guarantee agency in place, HUG's role in supporting the supply of dwellings and the recovery of regional construction markets is expected to ramp up. However, the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH), which plays a key role in dwelling supply alongside HUG, is expected to take somewhat more time to appoint a president. Although an internal candidate had been considered for LH's new president, the selection process is being restarted from scratch on grounds that LH needs reform.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 19th, HUG has submitted an agenda item to appoint a president at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to be held at 11 a.m. on the 22nd at its headquarters in Nam-gu, Busan. Former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Choi In-ho is the leading candidate to head HUG.
If the appointment plan passes the shareholders' meeting, the Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will recommend the candidate and the president will appoint. A HUG official said, "The goal is to take office within January."
HUG has been operating under an acting president system for more than six months since former president Yoo Byung-tae voluntarily resigned in June last year. With no leader in place, criticism has continued that there are limits to carrying out policy.
Once a new president is appointed, HUG is expected to step up its role in supporting the real estate and construction markets through public guarantees. Support for the recovery of the construction sector is expected to be strengthened through real estate project financing (PF) guarantees and "安心" buybacks for unsold homes in regional areas. Policy execution on jeonse fraud and the supply of dwellings for low-income groups is also expected to expand.
However, LH, which plays a major role in real estate and dwelling policy along with HUG, needs more time to appoint a president. LH has proceeded with the selection process for a successor since former president Lee Han-joon expressed his intention to resign in Aug. last year, but the top post remains vacant.
LH formed an executive recommendation committee and carried out an open recruitment process, narrowing the field to three internal candidates last month and submitting them to the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Public Institution Steering Committee. However, it was reportedly rejected on the grounds that all candidates were internal and thus not suitable for LH, which is pursuing reform. As the new selection process began, Executive Vice President Lee Sang-uk, who had been serving as acting LH president, also resigned. As a result, LH is being run under an unprecedented "acting of the acting" system.
LH is expected to begin the full re-recruitment process only after the open recruitment for new nonexecutive directors and the reorganization of the executive recommendation committee are completed. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH are carrying out a large-scale reshuffle of the entire board, including some nonexecutive directors whose terms have ended. At the same time, they are screening which of the newly elected directors will join the executive recommendation committee. For this reason, work to appoint a successor president will take place only after the appointment of new nonexecutive directors and the reorganization of the executive recommendation committee. The outline of LH's successor president is likely to emerge as early as February. Former lawmaker Lee Seong-man and others are currently being mentioned as candidates for LH's new president.
In addition to LH, the Korea Real Estate Board (REB) is a real estate-related public institution under MOLIT that is currently proceeding with the selection process for its next president. REB President Son Tae-rak has served since 2021. A real estate expert who requested anonymity said, "More than half a year after the new government was launched, the heads of public institutions related to the supply of dwellings are vacant," and added, "The government should quickly appoint qualified experts as heads of agencies to speed up policies such as dwelling supply."