[Anchor]
Public institutions have been found to operate in-house loan programs that exceed government guidelines. Even organizations handling real estate duties were discovered to be providing large sums of money at low interest rates.
Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the details.
[Reporter]
The Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation is an affiliate of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport that carries out housing-related guarantees and policy projects.
It loans up to 200 million won to employees for purchasing homes at an annual interest rate of 2.5%, with a repayment term within 20 years.
This year, 13 employees received 1.9 billion won in loans.
The problem is that this violates government guidelines.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance set a per-person limit of 70 million won for public institution employee housing loans back in 2021.
The interest rate must be equal to or higher than the bank household loan rate announced by the Bank of Korea, which stands at 4.39% per annum or higher for this quarter.
A comprehensive inspection of 30 public institutions under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport revealed that the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation, the Korea Real Estate Board, and the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) have been operating in-house loan systems in violation of these guidelines.
The Korea Real Estate Board offers up to 140 million won for housing funds at an annual interest rate of 2.2% with a repayment period of up to 15 years.
In the first half of this year alone, 15 employees received 2.01 billion won in loans.
At LH, the main agency responsible for housing supply, the scale of loans provided under terms more favorable than government guidelines reached 7 billion won for 93 employees in the first half of this year.
Ordinary citizens, who find it difficult to secure bank loans due to the government's tightened management of household debt, experience a sense of deprivation.
[Lee Yong-jae / Yeonsu-gu, Incheon: They block everything they can and then give loans among themselves. Isn't that a bit unfair?]
Because in-house loans are not factored into the Debt Service Ratio (DSR), they also undermine the effectiveness of loan regulations.
[Kang Dae-shik / People Power Party lawmaker (National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee): Inside public institutions, housing loans more favorable than government standards continue to persist. I believe the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must conduct a full inspection and immediately overhaul the system.]
The public institutions explained that "revising in-house loan regulations requires the consent of the labor union, which has delayed the implementation of the guidelines."
While violating the guidelines can result in penalty points in management evaluations, critics point out that the score allocation related to in-house loans is negligible, calling for measures to enhance practical effectiveness.
(Video reporting: Lee Moo-jin, Lim Woo-shik | Video editing: Kim Ho-jin | Design: Kim Ye-ji)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.