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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

President Lee Says Revising Property Tax Rules Is Not Unjust, Urges Look at Seoul Housing Prices

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

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

At a glance

News Official statement Approved/passed
  • President Lee Jae-myung defended revisions to the government’s 2026 property tax plan, saying the changes reflected policy choices rather than a question of justice.
  • The government kept the tax exemption threshold for non-owner-occupied single homes at 1.2 billion won instead of lowering it to 900 million won, while retaining the 150% annual increase cap.
  • The final plan raised the basic deduction for owner-occupied single homes to 1.4 billion won and reduced benefits for some high-value and multiple-home properties.

President Lee Jae-myung has rejected criticism that revisions to the government’s property tax plan represented a retreat from reform. He urged critics to consider the entire package and examine why housing prices in Gangnam and other areas were falling sharply.

In a post on X, Lee said the government had restored the tax exemption threshold for non-owner-occupied single-home owners to 1.2 billion won from the proposed 900 million won after lawmakers and the public viewed the reduction as excessive. The government also dropped a proposal to raise the annual ceiling on property tax increases to 200%, keeping the existing 150% limit.

The 200% cap on property tax increases is not just, nor is the 150% cap unjust. It is simply a matter of policy choice, where preferences differ.

— Lee Jae-myungThe president defended the revised property tax limits.

Lee said critics were focusing on those changes while overlooking revisions affecting high-value non-owner-occupied homes, multiple-home owners and ultra-expensive properties. He also pointed to a planned reduction in capital-gains tax benefits for non-owner-occupied single homes, ultra-expensive homes and multiple-home owners.

Please examine the entire policy, not just aggressive hard-line arguments, and also examine why housing prices in Gangnam and elsewhere are falling sharply now.

— Lee Jae-myungLee urged critics to look beyond selected changes in the tax plan.

“The 200% cap on property tax increases is not just, nor is the 150% cap unjust,” Lee wrote. “It is simply a matter of policy choice, where preferences differ.” He questioned whether criticism would have disappeared if the government had kept the 1.2 billion won threshold and 150% cap from the beginning, and said opponents might find another point to attack now that their main target had vanished.

The government finalized its 2026 tax reform plan at a Cabinet meeting on Oct. 1, adopting 11 tax-law revision bills. It raised the basic deduction for owner-occupied single homes to 1.4 billion won, while retaining the 150% ceiling on property tax increases. Lee called for politics based on facts and national interest rather than what he described as incitement, slander and unconditional criticism.

Would there have been no criticism if we had kept 1.2 billion won and 150% from the beginning?

— Lee Jae-myungThe president questioned criticism of the government’s revisions.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh 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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