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President Roh Moo-hyun
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Ruling Uri Party behind the drive, observers say
President Roh Moo-hyun vowed to continue to pursue his reform policies in the real-estate sector, his spokesman Jung Tae-ho said. The president said at a cabinet meeting Tuesday that a society without change will lag behind, and that he anticipated some resistance to naturally accompany any drive for reform, his spokesman reported.
The president also reportedly urged government officials in charge of reform policies to work hard to dispel public distrust of the government-led reform drive.
President Roh’s remarks came amid demands from the ruling Uri Party to change the government’s real-estate policies, in areas including land speculation regulation and property taxation.
Civic groups that monitor government property prices held a press conference on the same day in Seoul to blast the ruling party’s call for the president to change anti-speculation policies.
"The setback seen in the ruling party with respect to real-estate policy is having an impact on the housing market, where prices have become unstable," the groups said in a joint statement.
The South Korean government has in the past few years unveiled a set of anti-speculation policies to try to put an end to ever-rising property prices. However, such moves have been faced with opposition from conservatives and others. The polices focus on raising the transfer and holding taxes on more expensive properties.
