Minister Kim says more housing units in pipeline beyond 230,000; plans to meet Seoul mayor Thursday

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok speaks at a press briefing marking the one-year anniversary of her appointment on Friday, where she said the Aug. 13 housing supply package was designed to accelerate delivery and that additional units beyond those already announced are in preparation. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

"There are additional units in preparation beyond the 230,000 announced in the Aug. 13 supply package. About 80 percent of those have already been coordinated with local governments. We will announce them as each coordination is completed. I have arranged to meet Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Thursday. We plan to make every effort to work closely with the Seoul Metropolitan Government so that supply can move forward as quickly as possible."

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok reaffirmed Friday, at a press briefing marking the one-year anniversary of her appointment, that the government's housing supply package was designed to both increase supply and accelerate its pace — and said additional units are being prepared on top of those already announced. She invoked the phrase "just supply" — a blunt shorthand for pushing housing delivery without hesitation — to signal her determination to stabilize the real estate market through maximum supply.

Reflecting on the past year, Kim said the issue that has weighed on her most is the jeonse and monthly rent market. Pointing to what she called a "triple surge" — simultaneous sharp rises in home purchase prices, jeonse and monthly rents — she said she felt sorry as the minister responsible for real estate policy. "Producing short-term results is absolutely necessary," she said. "We designed the package to expand financial and tax support to push the pace of supply even harder, and we intend to wage an all-out pan-government effort to make sure this is not just talk." She said a task force meeting of relevant agencies, to be chaired by the prime minister's office, and a rapid supply task force led by the ministry's first vice minister would drive implementation. The government would also create a public dashboard so citizens can track supply progress firsthand, she said.

Kim described the package as the current administration's third housing supply measure, with speed as its defining feature. "The core of this supply package is to move fast — whether it is projects already under way, additional planned units, new towns, redevelopment or reconstruction, or public and private sector alike, we will push at an exceptional pace," she said. She added that the government would release greenbelt land for development if necessary, clarifying that the intention was not to lift protections on the highest-rated zones but to open up areas already substantially degraded and no longer functioning effectively as greenbelt. "We will supply housing without yielding to whatever obstacles arise," she said.

Kim also suggested that, given what she described as a near-critical shortage of housing supply, the entire Yongsan Park — not just the Yongsan Children's Garden — could in principle be considered a candidate site for housing under a "just supply" approach. She acknowledged that doing so would require clearing contamination, negotiating with the US military, amending legislation, consulting with ruling and opposition parties, coordinating with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Yongsan-gu, and obtaining clearance from the Ministry of National Defense and the National Security Office. The ministry's position, she said, was to pursue maximum effort and dialogue toward housing supply, given that it was the overriding priority.

Kim particularly stressed that coordination with local governments, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is essential for supply to proceed as planned. The Seoul Metropolitan Government expressed regret Thursday, saying it had not been sufficiently consulted ahead of the package's announcement, and said it could not in principle accept additional greenbelt releases.

Kim said she is scheduled to meet Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Thursday and noted that the government had already accepted eight of the 10 demands Oh had put forward, with only two remaining. "We also plan to discuss the scale of residential construction in the Yongsan International Business District — there is a great deal to talk through," she said. "The mayor is deeply engaged on the housing supply issue. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Seoul Metropolitan Government need to join hands to deliver housing that benefits the public. Legally and institutionally, the authority to lift greenbelt designations on public housing sites rests with the central government — but that does not mean we should exercise that authority when the Seoul Metropolitan Government holds a different view," she said.

On the figures announced in the supply package, Kim said a substantial number of additional units are also waiting in the pipeline. The 73,000 units whose specific locations have not yet been disclosed have already cleared coordination, she said, and while it is difficult to set a precise date, she hopes to announce them as early as late September or, if possible, in early October. A separate tranche of units — where coordination with local governments has reached the 80 to 90 percent stage — will be announced on a rolling basis as each is finalized, she added.

On opposition from local governments and residents, Kim said the ministry would engage in dialogue and persuasion while also exercising its statutory authority to keep supply moving. Addressing Gwacheon's objections to development of the horse racing track site, she said tailored communication and persuasion were needed, but added: "Where there is a tendency to maximize private gain, we will exercise the authority the law permits to pursue real estate market stability. We will proceed responsibly while keeping the lines of communication open."

Kim acknowledged that an immediate stabilizing effect on the housing market from the supply package would be difficult to expect, framing the measures as a medium- to long-term solution. She said the root cause of the jeonse and monthly rent crunch is fundamentally a shortfall in housing supply, and that activating non-apartment housing, advancing the third-generation new towns, offering incentives where delivery is fastest, revitalizing bridge loans, and expanding financial and tax support for project financing would together form part of the medium- to long-term response to the rental market.

On President Lee Jae Myung's remarks suggesting that redevelopment and reconstruction do little to expand supply, Kim said she understood him to have been referring to the fact that new homes take considerable time to build after existing ones are demolished — not that such projects are unimportant. Noting that the private sector accounts for 90 percent of housing supply in Seoul, she said redevelopment and reconstruction are "a critically important tool for delivering housing, and we will accelerate our support for them." At the same time, she said the government would work to raise the share of public housing, noting that countries with higher proportions of public housing tend to have more stable residential conditions. The goal, she added, was to transform public housing into something anyone would want to live in, rather than housing associated only with those in hardship.

On the relocation of public institutions to regional areas — a matter drawing nationwide attention — Kim outlined the governing principle without specifying a timeline. "The probability of parceling out institutions like handing out rice cakes to each region is zero," she said. The principle, she said, is to concentrate relocations in innovation cities, with an eye toward locations where anchor companies and other spillover effects can be generated, ensuring a balanced and fair distribution. Relocation plans would be announced through administrative procedures such as public hearings and consultations with labor unions, she said. She added that virtually no administrative agencies, let alone public institutions, would remain in Seoul. "Unless there are special circumstances, the president's instruction is to aim for zero institutions remaining in Seoul," Kim said.

On the reform plan for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Kim said it could be announced around September, adding that the framework is already in place. Conscious of the corporation's central role in the housing supply package, she said a proposal to restructure it is included in the plan, but noted that its capabilities have weakened considerably in recent years. "Our position is that we would like to strengthen the Korea Land and Housing Corporation in order to accelerate supply," she said. A master plan for the Saemangeum development zone would also be announced soon, following interagency consultations, she added.

smh@heraldcorp.com