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| Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
A bill has been proposed to ban top-ranking government officials, including lawmakers and ministers, from owning more than one house amid soaring housing prices across Korea.
Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, proposed the bill Monday, saying change is necessary to rebuild public trust in the government's real estate policies.
"(If passed), the bill would prevent conflict of interests in the policymaking process," Sim said at a press conference. "High-ranking officials must abide by certain rules for stock trading. It would be unconvincing to argue that real estate trading is different."
The bill would require new appointees in certain government positions to sell houses within 60 days if they have more than one.
Over the past three years, the Moon Jae-in administration has implemented various policies to cool the unusually hot property market ― to no avail. Critics have pointed out that many policymakers own multiple houses and that their real estate polices cannot be trusted.
According to the party, 35.5 percent of high-ranking officials at ministries and other agencies, who influence real estate policies, own more than one house. Among lawmakers, the rate is about 30 percent.
"These people are still in charge of real estate policies," Sim said. "Many people suspect that the government and the National Assembly themselves are part of the real estate cartel."
Housing prices are a critical issue for working-class people, an important base of support for the Moon administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
According to a recent survey by Realmeter, a local pollster, 63.5 percent of respondents said they would support a policy requiring high-ranking policymakers not to own more than one house, while 28.4 percent said they would not.
President Moon has said he will use all available measures to fight property speculation and soaring housing prices, especially around the capital area.
