A bill to establish a Real Estate Supervisory Service dedicated to cracking down on real estate speculation is expected to be taken up in earnest at the National Assembly starting in July. If the bill passes, the Real Estate Supervisory Service will be able to investigate real estate transactions by using various personal data, including financial transaction information, tax records, National Health Insurance payment histories, resident registration move-in records, and immigration records. It would also be granted special judicial police authority, enabling direct investigations.
According to the National Assembly on the 13th, 47 lawmakers, including Kim Hyun-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea, introduced the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Real Estate Supervisory Service in February, and it is currently pending at the National Policy Committee. Once the rival parties complete the formation of the standing committees for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly, full-fledged legislative deliberations are expected to proceed after review by the National Policy Committee.
The Real Estate Supervisory Service was included in the government and the ruling party's 9-7 plan to expand dwellings supply released last year. It was designed to be installed as an independent body under the Prime Minister's Office to continuously monitor acts that disrupt the real estate market and speculative behavior.
Under the bill, during the course of investigating real estate transactions, the supervisory service may request and use various data held by relevant agencies, including financial transaction histories, tax information, asset change statuses, actual transaction report data, National Health Insurance payment records, resident registration move-in report records, and immigration records. It would also introduce a special judicial police system to grant direct investigative authority over suspected illegal transactions.
The Democratic Party argues that, because illegal acts in the real estate market occur in complex ways, information and authority scattered across agencies should be brought together in one place.
In their statement of reasons for the bill, the lawmakers who participated in introducing it said, "Illegal acts in real estate often involve multiple legal violations within a single transaction, but currently, agency-by-agency authority and information are dispersed, limiting crackdowns and detection." They added, "It is necessary to reduce overlaps and gaps in investigations and probes through cross-verification of contract, taxation, registration, and financial data, and through coordination of work among relevant agencies."
Democratic Party heavyweights, including National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik, as well as lawmakers Kim Tae-nyeon, Park Beom-kye, Park Ju-min, Park Ji-won, Park Chan-dae, and Jin Sung-joon, joined as co-sponsors of the bill.
Jung Chung-rae, leader of the Democratic Party, also said at a recent supreme council meeting, "If the Real Estate Supervisory Service is established, it will be able to examine structural problems in the real estate market, just as the Financial Supervisory Service oversees the financial market, and crack down on unfair transactions such as price collusion or inflated asking prices."
In contrast, the opposition and academia are concerned about potential invasions of privacy due to the concentration of authority.
An official with the People Power Party said, "We agree with the aim of eradicating speculation, but real estate is also within the realm of individual property rights," adding, "If the authority extends to reviewing financial, tax, and health insurance information, it could effectively become an agency that broadly monitors the public's private lives."
Seo Jin-hyung, a professor in the Department of Real Estate Legal Affairs at Kwangwoon University, said, "Excessive investigative authority could be abused as a tool to control the public or lead to disputes over infringements of property rights," adding, "Legislation should proceed only after thoroughly reviewing the scope of authority and control mechanisms."
Yoo Sun-jong, a professor in the Department of Real Estate at Konkuk University, also noted, "If, despite being granted strong powers, it fails to demonstrate an effect in curbing speculation, it could result in nothing more than another bloated administrative organization."