Pres. Park urges housing measures to focus on jeonse, monthly rent

President Park Geun-hye urged Monday related ministries to come up strong housing measures on jeonse (a rent based on a lump-sum deposit) and monthly rent for low and middle income people.

At a cabinet meeting at the crisis management center of national security at the Presidential Office on Monday, the first day of Korea-U.S. military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian, President Park said, "Starting this week, jeonse loan ceiling will be raised at banks, but this is not a fundamental solution to calm surging jeonse loans," adding, "Households that shifted some of jeonse loans to monthly rent have to shoulder additional burden, and low and middle income people will suffer more."

President Park urged that aggressive measures should be devised by focusing on easing jeonse and monthly rent problems in the second half of the year. She added, "Many are calling for raising tax for the sake of welfare, but what is more urgent is to eradicate tax evasion and reduce wasted money and to vitalize the economy." She was clearly saying tax increase is not a consideration for now.

President Park said, "Politicians who are entrusted with the public`s rights should put foremost priority in taking care of the public," apparently criticizing the National Assembly. "Bills to legalize underground economy, such as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) law that narrowly passed the parliament, have died out due to various reasons, and we are expecting a setback in securing tax revenue."

She added, "The foreign investment promotion law is still pending in parliament, which have led to loss more than 2 trillion won (1.8 U.S. billion dollars) in investment," adding, "If foreign capital flow to other countries, this will be a huge loss to Korean people and companies."

A Presidential Office source said, "The FIU law was worn out in the process of passage to parliament, which led to lack of 1-2 trillion won (896 million dollars-1.8 billion dollars) in tax revenue. Three foreign companies say they will invest 2.3 trillion won (2.06 billion dollars) in cash when the foreign investment promotion law is passed, but foreign money may flow into China because it still waits for a passage.