Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki speaks during a ministerial-level meeting at Seoul Government Complex, Oct 14. |
By Lee Kyung-min
The number of people being forced out of their current residences as jeonse tenants with no place to move to is increasing steeply, a hardship experienced by a group sarcastically calling themselves Hong Nam-ki ― named after the deputy prime minister and finance minister who has fallen victim to his own real estate policy. Unique to Korea, jeonse is a home renting system whereby tenants pay a refundable lump sum deposit in lieu of monthly rent.
No immediate improvement is expected for people whose stable living arrangements have come under escalating threat, since the government refuses to acknowledge the fallout following dozens of botched real estate policies, not even after the top policymaker experienced it first hand.
Data from the Korea Legal Aid Corp. showed that 17,839 landlord-tenant dispute complaints were filed between August and September, up 61 percent year-on-year. The increase came after July 31, when a law revised to strengthen protection of tenants took effect.
Almost half of the disputes arose because tenants were forced out by landlords that sought to live in their apartments for which they applied for a mortgage.
This is due to the revised law whereby a mortgage is denied to borrowers unless they move in to the apartment within six months of the purchase.
The other half concerned landlords unable to remove tenants who refused to move out citing the same revision whereby tenants can live for up to four years in the apartment ― up from two years ― despite the landlords' objections, a reason why the revision was dubbed overprotective of tenants.
The efficacy of the revision and government policies became a source of heavier ridicule following reports about how Hong fell victim to his own policymaking.
Hong was notified to move out from his current apartment in Mapo, Seoul, by his landlord who said he had to move into it before the end of January next year.
The finance minister has yet to find a place to move to. But that is the least of his problems.
Hong sold his apartment in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, in August as part of his efforts to set a good example as a public servant to bolster the government initiative cracking down on real estate speculation. President Moon Jae-in earlier ordered that high-ranking public officials sell off real estate except for thier primary residence.
But the transaction is set to be voided because the current tenant said he would live there for two more years saying jeonse prices have spiked over the past few months to a level he cannot afford.
Worse yet, Hong may have to refund the payment put down by the buyer of the apartment as the buyer's request for a mortgage will be denied if he is unable to move in there by mid-February 2021.
Hong said he would continue monitoring the property market including factors that have jacked up the jeonse price.
"I will review policies with a heavy heart," he said during a ministerial-level meeting at the Seoul Government Complex, Oct 14.
