"Will Not Reveal Prime Costs of Apartments”

The government has decided not to reveal the prime costs of private apartments.

However, it will instead announce the sale price per pyong of national housing land provided by the Korea Land Corporation and the Korea National Housing Corporation. The construction costs of national housing will not be part of the announcement.

“Many experts are against the idea of announcing construction costs of private housing, and we respect the public’s opinion,” said Vice Minister of Transportation and Communication Choi Jae-duk in a press conference after a briefing in Cheong Wa Dae on February 12, adding, “we have finalized the governmental stance on announcing land prices first with regard to public housing.”

It is highly likely that it will meet with strong opposition by civil organizations which have been requesting to publicly announce the installment prime cost.

The government stated that there are many side effects in publicly announcing apartment installment prime costs.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communication announced that they will devise and implement an “improvement policy regarding housing land and a housing provision system” this month.

According to the policy, the announcement will involve the total public housing land price as well as the progressive announcement of the price per pyong. However, the government will give prudent consideration to announcing construction costs of public housing.

“If the construction costs of public housing are to be announced, there will be many problems including one that it will be compared with other private housing costs,” explained Vice Minister Choi.

The Ministry will devise an “Assessment Committee of a Housing Provision System” composed of 15 members including those from civil organizations in order to respect civil organizations opinions. The final decision will be made in mid June, but the chances that housing land prices will not be announced are higher for now.

It was finalized that private construction housing will not announce its installment prices.

Vice Minister Choi also said, “the installment price announcements only give rise to speculation and deter self-regulation of the market. We have decided not to open the prices because of those side effects.”

Civil organizations are strongly opposing the Ministry’s stance saying it is like an ostrich that buries it’s head in the sand.

“The total price of public housing land is already being announced as well as the price per pyong which can be obtained through a separate special request. We wonder what all this means when they are already available,” stated Park Wan-ki, president of the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice.

The Coalition held a launch ceremony of the “De-bubbling Movement Center of Apartment Prices” imploring against the government’s measures towards rising apartment prices as part of their efforts in removing bubbles around apartment prices at their coalition center in Seoul.

Kim Jae-ok, president of the Coalition of Consumers, said, “We will initiate a national movement to lower the apartment sale price by 30 percent.”

Meanwhile, private construction companies are consenting to the government decision while worrying how the public housing land price announcement will affect the private sector.”