On the 10th, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said regarding the possibility of raising the property holding tax that “we are not, in principle, excluding it.”

During the interpellation session at the National Assembly, when Rep. Cha Kyu-geun of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party pointed out that ‘in the early phase of the term, the policy to normalize the holding tax should be made clear,’ he replied, “It is actually not the case that we are exercising caution on tax matters just because an election is ahead.”

Kim said, “Among various policies, the idea of moving in the direction of strengthening taxation, or achieving other policy objectives through tax revenue, is, if not the last resort, at least a lower priority,” and added, “However, at the same time, as President Lee Jae Myung has continued to say, even if we look only at real estate policy, none of the policiessupply, demand suppression, or taxationare, in principle, excluded.”

Regarding the argument that tax credit benefits for owners of a single high-priced home, known as ‘one solid home,’ should be reduced, he said, “For one-household, one-home primary residence cases, we have so far taken a flexible stance,” adding, “We are aware of the criticism that ‘for properties that are too expensive, should there not be more of a tax response?,’ but for now we are maintaining that stance.”

On the temporary suspension of the heavier capital gains tax for multiple-home owners, he reiterated, “This time it is not ‘perhaps’ an end but a ‘definite’ end,” and said, “We will end the deferment as originally intended.” As for the fact that real estate prices have also shown an upward trend under the current administration following the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, he said, “During the periods when governments aligned with the Democratic Party were in charge, there were disappointing aspects in the outcomes of real estate policy, and we intend to reflect on that.”

On achieving 5,000 on the KOSPI, he assessed, “As is often expressed by the term ‘money move,’ a possibility has emerged that the flow of funds in our society will change,” adding, “Conversely, a structural possibility has arisen for real estate to stabilize.”

Kim reiterated that the United States has not demanded the removal of non-tariff barriers as a precondition for lowering tariffs on Korean-made products. He said, “There is no particular reason at present for us to change our existing assessment regarding the issue of non-tariff barriers,” adding, “Delays in decisions on U.S.-bound investment projects and in capital remittances account for almost 100%.” This is seen as an attempt to contain the situation after Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said during the interpellation the previous day that “if there is no progress in negotiations with the United States on non-tariff barriers, the U.S. intends to raise tariffs on Korea to reduce its trade deficit.”

Regarding the state of the Korean economy, Kim said, “No one would deny that we are in a trend of having hit bottom and are now climbing,” but added, “Far more than national debt, what we should focus on is turning the negative growth rate around, and that is where we are concentrating our efforts.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Gu Yoon-cheol said the same day, “We set stabilization of home prices as the highest policy goal,” adding, “Because reorienting the market toward primary residence use helps stabilize housing, we are concentrating policy efforts in that direction.”

During the interpellation session, remarks were also made acknowledging that the 1·29 housing supply measures are a ‘rehash’ of measures from the Moon Jae-in administration. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yoon-duk said of the 1·29 housing supply measures, “Depending on the expression, there is some truth even if they are called a rehash.” When People Power Party lawmaker Lee Man-hee, smiling as if dumbfounded, asked again, “Are you admitting it is a rehash?,” he answered, “Yes.”