President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook speak during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Han Seong-sook speak during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said Tuesday she would "stake her job" on boosting housing supply after President Lee Jae Myung ordered the government to treat the issue as a core economic recovery measure.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae that morning, Han made the pledge after Lee instructed ministers to prioritize housing supply as a driver of economic recovery. "I now understand what the labor minister felt when he said he would stake his job on it," Han said, adding that she, too, would give it everything she had.

The remark referred to an earlier episode: at a Cabinet meeting in July last year, Lee had called for measures to eliminate fatal industrial accidents, and Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon had vowed to resolve the problem even if it cost him his post.

Han said she had been visiting construction sites every week. "I check on the current situation, identify what needs to be fixed during those weekly visits, and listen to what individual developers have to say," she said.

When Lee pressed further — urging officials to quickly identify every possible unit that could be built, fast-track permits and ground-breakings, and get construction under way — Han said she would promptly review the many ideas the president had been sending through and sort out what needed to be decided quickly.

Lee also asked whether authorities planned to delegate approval authority for projects of fewer than 500 units to district offices. Han said the details would need to be worked out carefully, and that she would consult with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and local governments to produce a sound plan.

Lee said there were no financial regulations standing in the way of supply and called for a one-stop permitting system to clear any remaining bottlenecks. Han replied that she would do her best to keep the process moving at speed.


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