Ha Joon-kyung, the senior presidential secretary for economic growth, said Wednesday that the government's forthcoming property measures are being designed to ensure "people who live in their own homes without any thought of property speculation do not face hardship."
Ha made the remarks on "Eojjeoda Cheong Wa Dae Episode 2," released by the presidential office through its YouTube channel that day. "We are also seriously looking at people who suffer because of jeonse (a Korean lease system requiring a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent) or monthly rent, and we are preparing a great deal," he said.
On the government's property policy direction, Ha said, "It should not be the case that earning money through property speculation is better than earning money through productive activity." He added, "What the president said was also to lower the expected rate of return on property speculation."
Ryu Duk-hyun, the fiscal planning adviser who appeared on the broadcast together, elaborated, "We can do this by making other areas more attractive (than real estate)." He said, "I think this may be the first year in which the more attractive products shift away from real estate toward capital markets and the stock market, and we are devising various ways to make real estate less attractive."
On the recent semiconductor boom, Ryu stressed, "Semiconductors did not just take off on their own; they took off because our government was prepared." Noting that this year's first supplementary budget was drawn up without issuing government bonds and that national debt had been repaid, he said, "This year, the national debt ratio will fall."
