"They wrote every rule, then built the loophole to dodge it"
"If an ordinary citizen had done this, it would be insider trading"
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said Tuesday that so-called "deobureo geunjeodang" listings — a pun blending the ruling Democratic Party's name with the Korean word for a mortgage lien — have surged, adding that loans taken out by homeowners are increasing not only for high-priced properties but recently even for those priced at 500 million won or less.
Jang wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday, criticizing President Lee Jae Myung's practice of "selling with a mortgage attached," saying, "This is the spread of the Lee Jae Myung model, in which he sold his Bundang apartment with a 1.7 billion won mortgage."
Referring to President Lee, Jang said, "The more I look at him, the more impressive he is. He creates all sorts of regulations, then hands out ways to dodge them."
Jang also raised suspicions about the timing of Lee's sale. "The apartment was sold in such a rush, on July 14," he said. "Just two weeks later, on Aug. 3, the government announced a real estate tax overhaul. If an ordinary person had done this, wouldn't it be called insider trading?"
Jang also targeted the head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, saying, "The legislation chief's daughter, born in 1996, bought an apartment in Wirye New Town last year for 1.44 billion won ($1.07 million)." He said the purchase was a gap investment financed by a 700 million won jeonse deposit, with the cost covered by her father, the legislation chief. "That apartment has risen more than 500 million won in a year and is now worth over 2 billion won," he added.
Jang also said a secretary for public institutions at Cheong Wa Dae had given a non-residential Gangnam apartment to his two sons in their 20s. He said the apartment is now worth 3.3 billion won, with a jeonse deposit of 1.4 billion won, and that the secretary had raised the jeonse deposit by 220 million won after housing prices soared under the current administration.
Jang also highlighted real estate issues involving nominees for Lee's second-term Cabinet reshuffle. Regarding Hong Ji-sun, the nominee for minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, he said, "She bought an apartment last year, even leaning on her mother-in-law for help. The apartment, bought with more than half financed by debt, rose 500 million won in a single year."
Turning to Kang Shin-chul, the nominee for minister of the Ministry of National Defense, Jang said, "He registered his residence at a home he did not actually live in to qualify for a special pre-sale allotment given to displaced residents. Seven months after registering, his property was bought out through compensation, and in return he received a pre-sale allotment for a Gangnam apartment. He is said to have made 1.7 billion won from that."
"They themselves do not properly follow a single rule, yet they tell the public to live in real estate hell," Jang said. "It is now clear who the real devils are. The people will drive the real devils into a real hell."
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