The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party clashed over President Lee Jae-myung's directive to review regulations on loan extensions and refinancing for multi-home owners. When the People Power Party criticized the move as "financial dictatorship thinking," the Democratic Party countered it was "nothing but cowardly self-protection."
Park Sung-hoon, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, said in a statement on the 21st, "President Lee announced an extreme plan to strengthen loan extensions and refinancing for multi-home owners to the level of new loans, and to force mandatory repayment of up to 100% of loan amounts within one to two years." He criticized it as "financial dictatorship thinking that directly violates property rights guaranteed by the Constitution and shakes the foundation of 'trust' that underpins financial markets."
Park added, "Loans for rental business operators are largely operational funds to maintain and manage already-supplied housing." He warned, "Excessively restricting loan extensions is highly likely to result in most landlords raising rents and passing the burden onto tenants." Calling President Lee's plan "punitive loan regulations," he said, "It is excessive behavior to label citizens who own homes for retirement preparation or actual residence as 'speculative devils.'"
The Democratic Party rebutted the People Power Party's claims point by point, calling them "market agitation" aimed at obstructing the government's normalization efforts. Kim Hyun-jung, floor spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said in a written briefing released the same day, "This plan corrects the abnormal preferential structure that has been allowed only for existing multi-home owners and considers equity with loan regulations already in progress." She criticized, "The People Power Party is once again agitating the market by calling President Lee's will to normalize loan regulations financial dictatorship."
Kim stated, "Gradual loan repayment is the minimum order telling people to slowly manage debt structures they cannot handle." She added, "Calling this punishment is no different from representing only the position of the few who have enjoyed speculative profits using loans as leverage."
She continued, "Only when the market bubble deflates through loan regulation normalization and the inventory held by multi-home owners comes to market can tenants finally escape being 'long-term renters' and achieve their dream of home ownership." She urged, "If the People Power Party truly cares about housing stability for ordinary citizens, stop the hypocrisy of defending 'unlimited loans' and 'holding-out privileges' for specific groups."
Meanwhile, President Lee announced on the 20th via his X (formerly Twitter) account, "I have directed the Cabinet and Presidential Secretariat to review the current status of loan extensions and refinancing for existing multi-home owners and definitive regulatory measures for this."