People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo criticized the Lee Jae Myung government's housing supply record Friday, calling Lee a "gongpodae" — a Korean portmanteau meaning "president who gave up on supply."

Writing on his Facebook page Friday, Ahn said the Lee administration had pledged in September last year to break ground on 68,000 housing units in Seoul this year, but actual ground-breakings in the first half reached only 13,121 units — 19 percent of the target. "In corporate terms, this is effectively a near-default situation," he said.

Ahn said ground-breaking activity in the broader Greater Seoul area was also well below target. "Ground-breakings across the metropolitan area totaled 65,204 units, just 24 percent of the annual target," he said. He dismissed the government's recent flurry of responses — including a real estate review meeting, public rental housing at Yongsan Children's Garden and a plan to supply 50,000 units in the metropolitan area — as too little, too late.

Ahn said the housing supply shock was largely self-inflicted. "Reconstruction and redevelopment have been blocked by regulations on relocation loans, and even end-user mortgage lending has been shut down," he said. "The government is simultaneously blocking housing-related financing — permits, ground-breakings and all — while calling for expanded supply."

Citing the Moon Jae-in administration's housing policy failures as a precedent, Ahn said, "The policy of controlling home prices through taxes and loan regulations without increasing supply was proven a failure over five years under the Moon government. Copying the wrong answer naturally produces the same result."

He went on to say that the longer supply is delayed and the tighter tax and loan regulations become, purchase demand will be pushed into jeonse and monthly rent, triggering a chain reaction of soaring housing costs for ordinary people.


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