President Lee Jae-myung on Thursday clearly stated that tax benefits for non-resident single homeowners would not be reduced or abolished in cases involving unavoidable circumstances such as workplace location or children's education.
The president shared a media report on non-resident single homeowners on his X (formerly Twitter) account, writing, "It is clearly the case that those temporarily not residing in their home due to unavoidable reasons such as work — where the property is for residential purposes, not gap investment — are excluded."
The article described how non-resident single homeowners who own properties in land transaction permit zones due to unavoidable reasons such as workplace or children's education, rather than for speculation or investment, are facing a triple bind over home sales, jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent), and residency requirements.
The article also cited President Lee's earlier remark that "if a non-resident single home is for investment or speculation rather than residential use, tax reductions for long-term holding are not justified." Responding to this, the president wrote, "Yet, in the same in-depth feature article, they ask what about people who temporarily cannot reside due to children's education and other reasons, not speculation — is it because they don't understand? Or do they do it knowingly?"
He added, "This is a clearly contradictory article, and I ask that they conduct a little more in-depth analysis and issue a correction."