KOR
▲ President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a cabinet meeting held at the Blue House on July 14.
President Lee Jae-myung utilized the comment section of a live YouTube broadcast during a cabinet meeting to conduct a real-time survey on public opinion regarding increasing the ownership tax burden for owners of a single, ultra-high-value home.
During the cabinet meeting presided over at the Blue House, after receiving a report from a ministry on the plan to collect public opinion regarding real estate policy, President Lee stated, "Everyone agrees that people should not suffer due to owning a single home for actual residence. However, there is controversy over whether it is right to impose the same burden on so-called 'smart' homes or ultra-high-value properties worth over 10 billion won."
He then proposed, "If the citizens currently watching the live YouTube broadcast think it would be better to impose a differential, higher burden on ultra-high-value homes, please press 1. If you think otherwise, please press 2."
Shortly after, when Lim Ki-keun, Minister for Government Policy Coordination, reported that "most of the comments are 1. About 90 percent are 1," President Lee remarked, "It seems there is a general consensus that we should strengthen the burden even for single-home owners if the property is an ultra-high-value home."
President Lee then suggested conducting a survey on what would be an appropriate threshold to classify a property as an ultra-high-value home, asking viewers to press 1 for over 1 billion won, 2 for over 2 billion won, and 3 for over 3 billion won.
When Minister Lim stated that "many people wrote 3 billion won as the standard," President Lee laughed and asked back, "Isn't that too harsh? If it is 3 billion won in market value, isn't the government-assessed value only around 1 billion won or so?"
When Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom noted that "many people answered 2 billion won," President Lee laughed again and remarked, "If we set it at 2 billion won, it seems we might be in big trouble."
In relation to this, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said, "I don't think I have anything to say," to which President Lee asked, "I don't own a home now. Does your home exceed 2 billion won?"
Prime Minister Han replied, "I have one home, and it is worth over 2 billion won."
President Lee had previously put his apartment in Bundang up for sale earlier this year.
Prime Minister Han was initially a multi-home owner with four properties but recently sold three of them, ultimately becoming a single-home owner.
Regarding discussions on real estate tax policy, President Lee stated, "The claim that taxes are imposed to curb housing prices is not true," adding, "Fair taxation is the most important factor, and curbing housing prices can be considered a secondary effect."
President Lee emphasized, "The current tax system is heavily distorted. As a result, it has become a factor that triggers real estate speculation," and added, "Normalizing this is our primary goal."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
