PPP lambastes Lee for 'unprecedented hypocrisy' in sale of $2M apartment

The opposition People Power Party (PPP) has accused President Lee Jae Myung of abusing a loophole in the country's real estate policy by bypassing a lending restriction set by his own administration in the sale of his apartment.

Lee sold his apartment house in Bundang, Gyeonggi, for 2.9 billion won ($2 million) using a collateralized mortgage with a maximum secured amount of 1.8 billion won, thereby effectively amounting to seller financing where the buyer gets to bypass strict mortgage limits by borrowing part of the purchase price directly from the seller rather than a bank.

"While raising lending regulation barriers for the public and thoroughly blocking ordinary people and young people from achieving their dream of owning a home, President Lee was obsessed with securing a reconstruction premium and receiving full market value for his own property," PPP senior spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said in a statement on Monday. 

"He has resorted to legal loopholes and questionable tactics to complete the transaction. It is the height of hypocrisy and shows how little regard he has for the public."

Former PPP floor leader Song Eon-seog also took to Facebook to call the president out.

"The reality of today is that ordinary people cannot buy homes because they are blocked from obtaining loans, and they are finding it difficult to sell homes as well," Song said. "Yet President Lee completed his own real estate transaction by working around the regulations. The fact that it may be legally permissible will not shield him from public criticism."

PPP Rep. Na Kyung-won went so far as to call it "an unprecedented real estate scheme that undermines the lending regulations."

"Because he can clearly see the government's regulatory timetable, which it wields at its own discretion, he was able to make such an extraordinary exit from his real estate investment," she said. "This is a clear conflict of interest arising from the use of the authority and information available to someone in power."

PPP Rep. Joo Jin-woo argued that such a "hypocritical real estate regulation" should be abolished.

"The government has blocked lending so that only cash-rich buyers can purchase homes, yet President Lee and the first lady effectively lent 1.5 billion won to the buyer instead of a bank," Joo said.

The presidential office explained that the collateralized mortgage was established "at the buyer's request."

"The apartment had been sold below market price," said the Blue House. "Although President Lee, as the owner of a single home, was under no obligation to sell the property, the sale demonstrates his commitment to implementing policies aimed at normalizing the real estate market."

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]