President Lee Jae Myung delivers opening remarks at a national public forum on real estate policy at the KBS annex in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday, with 140 participants including experts and members of the public in attendance. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung delivers opening remarks at a national public forum on real estate policy at the KBS annex in Yeouido, Seoul, on Thursday, with 140 participants including experts and members of the public in attendance. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung used a national public forum on real estate policy to reaffirm his administration's commitment to strengthening property holding taxes and curbing speculative lending.

The forum drew active online participation, with viewers' comments displayed in real time during the event. Reactions were divided — some praised the discussion for surfacing a wide range of perspectives, while others said the president dominated too much of the speaking time.

A full day after the forum ended, comments continued to pour in on the video posted Friday to the YouTube channel "Lee Jae Myung TV."

"It was an enjoyable watch. There seemed to be some good ideas, and I hope it helps the government make people's lives better," one viewer wrote. Another said, "Real estate really does seem like a difficult problem. I hope it gets resolved well."

Others were more critical of the format. "Was this a forum to hear the public's voice, or a forum for the president to lecture the public?" one viewer wrote. During the 190-minute session, Lee directed questions at experts and called on specific speakers himself on multiple occasions.

At the forum on Thursday, Lee questioned Kim Young-do, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Finance, suggesting that if mortgage loans are restricted but real estate already acquired can still be used as collateral for general-purpose loans, borrowers could circumvent housing loan regulations through workarounds. He asked whether limits on business loans might also be necessary.

Lee also said, "May I indulge a personal preference here? Please call on Lee Gwang-su after the next speaker," before giving the floor to Lee Gwang-su, head of real estate consultancy Gwangsu's Bokdeokbang. Lee Gwang-su argued that current loan regulations apply only to new borrowers and that existing borrowers should face the same restrictions in the name of fairness. He also called for loan restructuring, a lifetime cap of one capital gains tax exemption for single-home owner-occupiers, overall volume limits on reconstruction and redevelopment projects, and the abolition of regulated zones.

Not everyone agreed. "Trying to catch speculators but ending up restricting mortgage loans and capital gains tax for people who actually live in their one home — that doesn't seem right," another viewer wrote.

On strengthening property holding taxes, Lee said broad agreement already exists on the principle. "The question is how far, to what degree, and with what differentiation," he said. He drew a line at raising holding taxes to levels seen in advanced economies, warning that a threefold increase — what he said would be required to match those levels — "would trigger something close to a revolt."

Lee also signaled a possible tightening of jeonse loan regulations. "We made jeonse loans almost unlimited to help ordinary people secure housing more easily," he said, "but when jeonse becomes too easy to access, home prices ultimately all go up. That is one of the reasons apartment prices have risen so much."

Meanwhile, viewers raised real estate policy issues that went unaddressed during the forum. One called for lower interest rates on Diditmaul and Bogeumjari loans — government-backed mortgage products for lower-income borrowers. "The loan limits are already small, and the rates are high. Can this really be called a loan for ordinary people?" the viewer wrote.

Another viewer urged the government to simplify housing policy, suggesting measures such as allowing households to own two homes and setting property tax bases on the total value of holdings. The same viewer also called for adequate residential housing supply for young people who move from the regions to Seoul so they can "live with dignity."

Some viewers called for converting vacant commercial and office properties into residential use. "I think commercial and office buildings sitting empty are the only way to substitute for the residential properties that are in high demand," one wrote. "Please adjust the regulations quickly and put them to use — please."


moone@heraldcorp.com