- If the reform proposal passes, rental prices and home prices for end-users will skyrocket
- Tenants live in non-owner-occupied homes... The mindset itself is abnormal
- Comparing earned income to home price growth over decades is 'devil's editing'
- A mistake made by novices... President Lee must fire everyone around him
- Where is Lee Jae-myung, who said he 'would not control house prices with taxes'?
- Seems there is a person or group holding the President's ear... Repeating the failure of the Moon Jae-in administration
- High-density development around station areas and the Naegok-dong Reserve Forces Training Site should be utilized
- I wondered whether to stay in politics, but with this happening... I will block it even if I have to lie down on the floor

■ Broadcast: SBS Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show (FM 103.5 MHz 7:00 – 9:00 AM)
■ Date: August 5, 2026 (Wed)
■ Host: Attorney Kim Tae-hyun
■ Guest: Representative Park Soo-min of the People Power Party

▷Kim Tae-hyun: The People Power Party is criticizing the government's tax reform plan, calling it a punitive tax hike. Let's listen directly to why they view it that way. Joining us is Representative Park Soo-min of the People Power Party, an economic expert formerly with the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Hello.

▶Park Soo-min: Good morning.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: You are a former Ministry of Finance and Economy official, a member of the opposition party, and your constituency is Seoul Gangnam-B. So I expect you have a lot to say about the government's tax reform plan announced yesterday. Right, Representative?

▶Park Soo-min: Honestly, my heart feels heavy.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Why?

▶Park Soo-min: So many emotions surged up that I was truly shocked to the point of being speechless.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: What point made your heart feel so heavy and shocked you the most?

▶Park Soo-min: It's what will happen from now on. If this passes as it is, first of all, rental prices—jeonse and monthly rent—will surge. Currently, 60% of Seoul residents live in jeonse or monthly rentals. That means 6 million citizens will take a direct hit, effectively losing real income. Starting from that chaos, I also think homes priced around 1 billion, 2 billion, or 3 billion won will skyrocket. Those are the primary target homes eyed by end-users in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. How can they do this? Before even launching a political attack, my heart just aches. This is the worst tax terror.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Tax terror?

▶Park Soo-min: It is terror.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Have you heard reactions from residents in your district?

▶Park Soo-min: I'm almost scared to listen.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Why is that?

▶Park Soo-min: They must be shocked.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Is that so?

▶Park Soo-min: Yes, really. I don't know when or how this was formed, but its roots seem deep. Everything that failed under the Moon Jae-in administration is back, with even higher intensity. Right now, they seem to be trusting in credit regulations.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: So the direction is the same, but the intensity is stronger than under the Moon Jae-in administration.

▶Park Soo-min: It has become much worse. It's worse, and they seem to rely on loan regulations. Back then, under the Moon Jae-in administration, interest rates were low so liquidity was abundant, and they seem to look at only one side—that providing rental finance caused prices to surge. Since they restricted loans, there might be some effect from that. But how long do they intend to restrict loans? Real buyers cannot pay their remaining loan balances right now. Yet handling taxes like this on top of that makes my heart heavy.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Let me take this step by step. According to the government's explanation, this protects owner-occupied homes while increasing the tax burden on ultra-high-priced homes and non-owner-occupied homes, which they call tax normalization. They ask, "Why keep calling this a punitive tax hike?"

▶Park Soo-min: That mindset itself is abnormal. Owner-occupied means living there directly, while non-owner-occupied means tenants living in jeonse or monthly rentals. But they keep blaming multiple homeowners, saying house prices rose because of them. House prices rise due to economic growth, and supply couldn't keep up due to being trapped in urban planning aligned with economic growth. Therefore, if you increase supply, housing prices stabilize, and once housing prices stabilize, multiple-home owners are actually needed. That is why nurturing professional rental business operators was the approach that started in the Kim Young-sam era and continued through the Kim Dae-jung era.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: Also, if you look abroad, rental businesses are structured corporately. In Korea, there are many individuals. The first step to formalizing that system is turning individual rentals into professional rental businesses with transparent tax management.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: And protect tenants too?

▶Park Soo-min: Yes. And do you remember the term "house poor" from the past?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes, there was that.

▶Park Soo-min: Under the Park Geun-hye administration, housing prices were stabilized through supply. When it becomes a "house poor" era, people don't buy homes. But someone needs to buy homes for housing supply to be generated and to prevent future price surges. So during periods when home prices are stable, who would buy them? Professional rental businesses are needed. But by reframing everything around the concept of multiple-home owners, they keep bashing them, saying "Home prices rose because of you, you must sell." They keep attacking them like this, and this time they even claim that holding non-owner-occupied homes itself is a problem.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: Then what about people who own a home, but rent it out due to work or other reasons and live in a rented home themselves? How are they supposed to handle that chain reaction of chaos?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Let's look at what the President said at yesterday's Cabinet meeting: "A worker who earns 1 billion won pays nearly half in taxes, but real estate that gains 10 billion won pays only a few hundred million won in taxes." He questioned whether this aligns with tax equity—paying less tax than someone who works. How do you view this?

▶Park Soo-min: President Lee must fire everyone around him.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Why?

▶Park Soo-min: Do you know how much of a 'devil's editing' that is? One could say taxes are high for someone earning 1 billion won because our global income tax rate is high. But that 1 billion won was earned in one year. Making 10 billion won on a house takes a lifetime. Even over a lifetime, very few people gain that much. How can you compare income earned over 40 or 50 years to 1 billion won earned in a single year? If someone gained 10 billion won over 30, 40, or 50 years, dividing that by 50 means 200 million won a year. So you should compare 1 billion won to 200 million won. It's completely different. How can you place two different realities side by side for a horizontal comparison?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: I don't know if I should say this much, but when people handle taxes for the first time as novices, they fall into that error—saying "This 10 billion won property only pays this much, while 1 billion won in income pays more," dividing earned income and unearned income. Beginners fall into this mindset. He really needs to fire everyone around him.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: One of the criticisms from the People Power Party is this. Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sig also said, "After saying they wouldn't control house prices with taxes, they declared a tax bomb." The argument is that what the President said during the campaign has changed. Do you think the President needs to provide additional explanation on this?

▶Park Soo-min: Of course. We went through a fierce presidential election, and he promised not to enforce loan restrictions, not to control housing prices with taxes, and to promote redevelopment and reconstruction maintenance projects. Where did that Lee Jae-myung go?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Then why do you think the President changed? Because as you mentioned, tightening loans and raising taxes was the exact method used under the Moon Jae-in administration. The general direction is the same and similar, but you are saying the intensity has become even stronger. It failed under the Moon Jae-in administration doing that. Since the President likely knew that, he said during the campaign that he wouldn't use taxes to control housing prices. If he has changed now, why do you think that happened?

▶Park Soo-min: I think someone is there. There seems to be someone around the President holding his ear, and they succeeded in holding it.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Saying that the Moon Jae-in administration's method was right?

▶Park Soo-min: Yes. Whether it's a person or a group, there seems to be such a group. He must break free from that. Absolutely, that is extremely dangerous.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Is that so?

▶Park Soo-min: If you hear it, it sounds tempting. It seems reasonable and righteous—like "How could someone make 10 billion won on a house and pay so little tax?" Things like that. But looking at the process, that took a lifetime. And if they really insist on collecting more taxes from that, fine. But there must be a valid justification, and they must measure the potential fallout and side effects. That hasn't been measured at all.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Some point to Japan or note that our property taxes are too low compared to expensive holding taxes in the U.S. Some argue that to align with advanced nations, Korea should also raise holding taxes on ultra-luxury homes. How do you view that?

▶Park Soo-min: Let's broaden the discussion. Do you know what percentage of income tax in Korea is paid by the top 10%?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: I don't know the exact number.

▶Park Soo-min: You can look at it roughly like this. Korea is a country where the top 10% pays about 80% of taxes. 70 to 80%.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: They say there are many tax-exempt workers.

▶Park Soo-min: Yes. So adding corporate tax, adding inheritance tax, roughly speaking, this is a country where the top 10% pays 70% to 80% of global income tax, earned income tax, and capital gains tax. And the top 1% pays 40% to 50%. So Korean taxation is by no means regressive. Wealthy people are currently paying a lot, and it is not a small amount. But experts around the President seem to pick out isolated cases, saying someone got 20 billion won through long-term holding tax deductions, but that is absolutely not representative.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: That's why if we say the wealthy and high-income earners should pay more taxes, there must be a justification. But aren't we getting excess tax revenue right now thanks to semiconductors?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes, we are.

▶Park Soo-min: Then why squeeze out taxes like this?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: But you agree with the overarching premise that housing prices must be stabilized, right?

▶Park Soo-min: Of course.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: If you were the person in charge right now, or a ruling party lawmaker, what approach would you use?

▶Park Soo-min: First, I would execute high-density development around subway station areas. Korea's urban planning lacks logic regarding building height limits. Is it to protect the landscape or to stabilize housing? There must be abundant housing near subway stations so rental prices become affordable. That way, people can save money, invest it, and earn capital income. They seem to view earned income versus unearned income as opposite forces, but that's not it. Starting from earned income, you save funds, invest them to build capital income, become middle class, and then transfer wealth to the next generation—that is the economic cycle. We should encourage this to elevate everyone's standard of living, rather than setting up a rigid good-versus-evil binary.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: Starting with high-density development in station areas, we should supply housing to make rental properties abundant and affordable. Also, as announced this morning, there are lands like the Naegok-dong Reserve Forces Training Center. That flat...

▷Kim Tae-hyun: The Gwacheon Racetrack and Taereung CC are also being mentioned.

▶Park Soo-min: But places like the Gwacheon Racetrack are integrated with residential areas and offer benefits. They function as park spaces. It's not easy.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Unlocking those?

▶Park Soo-min: Yes. Unlocking them is not easy. But I have been saying for a long time that there is plenty of land in southern Gangnam and Seocho. I refrained from stating it directly before out of fear it might be accused of spurring speculation, but today I'm finally speaking out. Sites like the Naegok-dong Reserve Forces Training Center should be developed.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: In your constituency?

▶Park Soo-min: It's in Representative Shin Dong-wook's district right next to mine. Is that prime land really the place to conduct reserve force training right now? Supply housing on such sites and conduct legal reviews quickly. During President Lee Myung-bak's era, pre-sales were conducted—even before land acquisition, the government sold units with public credibility. That absorbs demand, reducing house-purchasing pressure. When house prices stabilize, people might buy homes less frequently because prices aren't rising sharply. Then you need to nurture professional rental businesses. That keeps rental prices low, stabilizes home prices, allows people to buy homes when needed, and if they own a single home, enables them to sell and downsize easily after retirement, designing the system so wealth can transition to the next generation.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes. Some experts argue that as the economy grows, asset prices, stocks, and inflation all rise, making a certain level of home price increase natural and inevitable. What do you mean by "housing price stabilization"? For instance, freezing current prices, a sharp drop, or, as I mentioned, a gradual, natural rise within an affordable range?

▶Park Soo-min: The last one—rising within an affordable range.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Because fundamentally, prices are bound to rise alongside economic growth.

▶Park Soo-min: I mentioned this several times when I ran in the Seoul mayoral primary. They say our nation achieved both industrialization and democratization simultaneously. We are the only country post-World War II where national income rose so rapidly and continuously.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: That seems true to me as well.

▶Park Soo-min: We are the only ones on Earth.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Because we truly came all the way from the bottom to here.

▶Park Soo-min: Exactly. We came from being the poorest nation at the bottom to where we are now. It's remarkable. And our urbanization rate among these incredible people exceeds 90%. Everyone concentrates in the metropolitan area and big cities. So wouldn't housing supply be insufficient?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: It is insufficient.

▶Park Soo-min: Then shouldn't we build quickly?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: We should build.

▶Park Soo-min: But they prevent building. If you suppress demand, how can there be supply? Supply happens when there is demand. Do developers build houses with water? No. You have to let the market function, and when the market works, housing supply happens. They call it "voting with feet." Preferred locations emerge regardless of the method.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: I even say this: even in Pyongyang, there is a luxury residential area. It's inevitable. Where humans live, preferred areas emerge. Now, our national income has reached $35,000. So housing prices in certain preferred areas could surge to match a $100,000 income level. That became the top three Gangnam districts. So we should add more housing near station areas in the top three Gangnam districts, and utilize underused land within them, like the Naegok-dong Reserve Forces Training Center. And we shouldn't over-concentrate on this area alone, so we should also create alternative future preferred areas in advance. We need to proceed steadily like this.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Yes.

▶Park Soo-min: Suddenly blocking all loans in the short term and using tax policy shrinks supply, directly harming rental tenants.

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Representative, looking at a report this morning—in the JoongAng Ilbo, I believe—Democratic Party lawmakers, especially in the Han River Belt, are worried that this could ruin them in the general election, so there are talks of possible modifications. Bluntly speaking, purely from an election standpoint, isn't this advantageous for the People Power Party?

▶Park Soo-min: My heart hurts too much to talk about political gain. Honestly, since coming to the National Assembly, it has been so tough that I thought many times about quitting politics, really. It's truly exhausting. I thought about giving up, but when things like this happen, I feel I must stay in politics. Someone must stop this, even if it means lying down on the floor. There are 38 Democratic Party National Assembly members in Seoul. What are they doing right now?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: You mean that thinking of the public, this isn't something to calculate political advantage for the general election?

▶Park Soo-min: Exactly. Think of how much damage will occur. The pain of taxes and loan restrictions citizens have to endure, losing real income as rental prices jump, plus the high likelihood of home prices around 2 billion won soaring soon—how can anyone calculate political advantage while looking at young people experiencing that?

▷Kim Tae-hyun: Understood. We will end here today. We have been speaking with Representative Park Soo-min of the People Power Party. Thank you.

▶Park Soo-min: Thank you.


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