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Deputy prime minister nominee says disputed Gwacheon apartment is being demolished for reconstruction
🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Deputy prime minister nominee says disputed Gwacheon apartment is being demolished for reconstruction

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • South Korean deputy prime minister and finance minister nominee Lee Hyeong-il said his Gwacheon apartment is being demolished during reconstruction.
  • Opposition critics had accused him of conflicting with government policies that emphasize owner-occupancy, especially because he helped lead tax reforms differentiating between resident and nonresident homeowners.
  • Lee confirmed he had lived in a rented home since 2021 and said he would provide further details during his confirmation hearing.

Lee Hyeong-il, nominee for South Korea’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, defended his ownership of a non-owner-occupied apartment in Gwacheon by saying the property is being demolished for reconstruction.

The firm principle is to establish a housing market centered on residence.

— Lee Hyeong-ilThe ministerial nominee reaffirmed the government’s owner-occupancy policy while explaining his apartment’s status.

Speaking to reporters on his way to work at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation building in central Seoul, Lee said the government’s commitment to establishing a housing market centered on actual residence was a firm principle. He asked that his apartment’s current reconstruction status be taken into account.

The issue emerged after it became known that Lee owned one home in which he did not live. Opposition figures argued that this conflicted with government policy emphasizing owner-occupancy. The criticism carried particular weight because Lee had helped lead tax reforms that set different treatment according to whether homeowners actually lived in their properties.

My Gwacheon apartment is currently undergoing reconstruction and is being demolished, so I hope you will understand that this is the current situation.

— Lee Hyeong-ilLee responded to questions about why he does not live in the apartment.

Reporters asked Lee whether he had lived in a rented home since 2021, even though reconstruction relocation began in 2025. He answered yes, then said he would provide details during the confirmation hearing. That exchange prompted criticism that his explanation linking the non-occupancy to the apartment’s demolition did not fully line up with the timeline.

Yes.

— Lee Hyeong-ilHe confirmed that he had lived in a rented home since 2021 when asked about the reconstruction timeline.

Lee also declined to give details about when or why he bought the apartment, saying only that he had purchased it a long time ago and would address the matter at the hearing. On proposed changes to the tax package, including delaying the abolition of a long-term holding deduction and restoring the basic comprehensive real estate tax exemption for nonresident owners to 1.4 billion won, he indicated that further discussion was possible. He said the government’s revised proposal had already been prepared through consultations incorporating ideas from the Democratic Party and that dialogue would continue.

We will continue to communicate and consult on an ongoing basis.

— Lee Hyeong-ilLee indicated openness to discussions over proposed changes to the tax reform package.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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