"What on earth were they thinking, handing the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee to the People Power Party? We couldn't even pass a single Urban Redevelopment Act, and speed matters for follow-up legislation on supply measures..."
Such concerns poured out within the Democratic Party after it ceded the chairmanship of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee for the latter half of the 22nd National Assembly to the People Power Party (PPP). The unease stems from a sense of crisis that the party, having already lost the Seoul mayoral race in the June 3 local elections over real estate issues, could now completely lose the initiative on property matters by giving up the committee as well. Some Democratic Party members were also reported to have sent flurries of critical text messages to certain committee lawmakers over the matter.
Lawmakers assigned to the committee have complained that the party leadership takes a complacent view of real estate issues. One lawmaker on the committee said, "Naturally, I thought our party would take the Land Committee," adding, "I was surprised when I saw the committee allocation. The judgment behind the committee distribution is disappointing."
Criticism also poured out over the current floor leadership, which did not refer the Urban Redevelopment Act—already passed by the Land Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee—to the plenary session. Another lawmaker's office official pointed out, "A long time has passed since the Urban Redevelopment Act was passed, but this too was not put on the plenary agenda," and added, "Even when we held the Land Committee chairmanship, they were passive about passing bills. So what exactly do they intend to do in the latter half after handing it over to the People Power Party?" The revised Urban Redevelopment Act centers on raising the floor area ratio for public redevelopment projects by 130% from the existing level. It amounts to the key follow-up legislation for the Democratic Party's supply measures, which effectively consist entirely of public-led supply plans.
Within the Democratic Party, criticism has also poured out over the government's failure to appoint a president for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH). One Democratic Party official said, "The Lee Jae-myung administration's urban complex development, public redevelopment and so on all have LH as their main agent, yet the presidency has been vacant for more than eight months," adding, "Is there any will to supply housing at all?"
Both inside and outside political circles, some assess that the Lee Jae-myung administration will ultimately pursue home price stabilization through taxation. An opposition official argued, "The Democratic Party's ceding of the Land Committee effectively places emphasis on taxation rather than supply," adding, "It means there are no more supply measures to come." Indeed, in exchange for giving up the Land Committee, the Democratic Party took back the Finance and Economy Planning Committee, which had been the People Power Party's share. The Finance and Economy Planning Committee is the standing committee in charge of taxation.
Beyond this, some also assess that it is puzzling that the party gave the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee—which oversees core Democratic Party policies such as the Honam semiconductor cluster—to the People Power Party. Another Democratic Party lawmaker's office official said, "It seems they gave up the Industry Committee and the Land Committee in order to take the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee," adding, "These are committees tied to mega-projects and the like, and there are concerns that handing them to the opposition could disrupt follow-up legislation."
