Credit: Public domain.
Try as it might, the Lee Jae-myung 이재명 administration cannot avoid the quagmire that crippled the liberal governments before it. On August 3, the government raised the comprehensive real estate tax 종합부동산세 on non-resident and multi-home owners while capping the long-term capital gains deduction at KRW 2b (USD 1.4m) by 2028, in a bid to rein in the cost of housing.
Then on August 13, the Financial Services Commission 금융위원회 barred non-resident single-homeowners from taking out or renewing jeonse 전세 loans starting January 2027, targeting the roughly KRW 9.3t (USD 6.6b) in loans tied to the so-called “gap investment.” (See previous coverage, “The Jeonse Time Bomb.”)
Seoul mayor O Se-hun 오세훈 서울 시장 called the reform an "obsession with residency." Democratic Party 민주당 figures also broke ranks, veteran lawmaker Song Yeong-gil 송영길 saying flatly, "Stop fiddling with the real estate taxes."
