Seoul Mayor: President's apartment sale highlights flawed real estate rules

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has criticized South Korea's current real estate regulations, using President Yoon Suk Yeol's recent apartment sale as a prime example of how strict rules distort the market. Oh pointed to the fact that the president's sale involved setting up a mortgage for the buyer, a move he described as a consequence of overly rigid real estate policies.

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The president's transaction shows how much current real estate regulations have made the market abnormal.

"The president's transaction shows how much current real estate regulations have made the market abnormal," Oh stated on his Instagram account. He suggested that while he doesn't intend to criticize the president's specific transaction, it serves as a testament to the failures of existing regulations. "If even the president has to consider such methods to sell a house, what stronger proof of regulatory failure could there be?" he questioned.

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If even the president has to consider such methods to sell a house, what stronger proof of regulatory failure could there be?

Oh emphasized that the flexibility the president needed is even more desperately required by ordinary citizens. He highlighted that while the president might have had options, ordinary citizens, especially those who are first-time homebuyers facing a 200 million won loan limit, have no recourse. The mayor's comments come ahead of a presidential policy discussion on real estate, where he plans to advocate for adjustments to uniform loan restrictions.

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The flexibility the president needed is even more desperately required by ordinary citizens.