New year, new barbs as Lee, PPP trade jabs over housing policy during holiday
Published: 18 Feb. 2026, 19:21
Updated: 18 Feb. 2026, 20:01
![President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with senior aides at the Blue House in Seoul on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/18/c9a05b7d-9c5a-4e56-a2d6-278238314d46.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with senior aides at the Blue House in Seoul on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]
President Lee Jae Myung's Lunar New Year holiday was dominated by a political spat over housing as he traded barbs with the conservative opposition over property ownership and real estate policy.
President Lee, who kept his holiday schedule largely private aside from attending a movie, posted a series of messages on X criticizing the People Power Party’s (PPP) stance on real estate issues.
Lee on Tuesday questioned whether the PPP “truly believes it is desirable for people to own multiple homes as investments in Korea, where the small landmass and heavy concentration in the capital region create many factors driving real estate speculation.”
“I hope they are not that lacking in common sense,” he wrote. “It is truly regrettable that the People Power Party, which must know about the unfairness of special treatment for multiple homeowners, criticizes policies to curb multiple-home ownership with reasons that are hard to understand and close to quibbling.”
He also addressed PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok, who earlier declined an invitation to a luncheon at the Blue House, saying that there was something he wanted to ask if Jang had turned up.
“Does PPP believe multiple homeowners should not be regulated and favor maintaining existing tax and financial benefits?” Lee wrote, attaching news reports noting PPP criticism that the president should sell his apartment in the Bundang District of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, along with counterclaims that Jang owns six homes.
Jang responded on the same day on his Facebook with a photo taken at a rural house where his 95-year-old mother lives. He wrote that his mother had grown concerned after seeing Lee’s post and accused the president of stigmatizing ordinary citizens as speculators.
![A black-and-white photo of People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's mother, which was posted on Jang's Facebook on Feb. 17. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/18/d75cc0a7-04a9-4e0e-bddc-f3d044e8f01c.jpg)
A black-and-white photo of People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok's mother, which was posted on Jang's Facebook on Feb. 17. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
On the following day, Jang again wrote on Facebook that people maintaining family homes in their hometowns, mostly regions facing population decline, are not speculators but “patriots” supporting local economies. He accused the president of demonizing them and provoking public resentment.
Jang also argued that Lee himself stands to gain from redevelopment. Lee’s apartment in Bundang, purchased in 1998, was included in November 2024 in a government-designated redevelopment zone. Jang claimed the property could yield an estimated 5 billion won ($3.5 million) in gains after Lee leaves office.
Lawmakers from both parties stoked the fire.
Democratic Party (DP) members accused Jang of invoking his mother for political gain and questioned whether his criticism was meant to defend the public or his own properties. PPP deputy spokesperson Choi Su-jin countered that Lee should “lead by example,” noting projected gains on his apartment. DP floor spokesperson Kim Hyun-jung responded that Lee bought the home decades ago as a future residence, and that he has no plans to sell and has realized no profit.
President Lee took to X again early Wednesday morning, claiming that the opposition lawmakers are "distorting facts, blurring the issue and making irrational claims," adding that such acts "threaten democracy."
Presidential officials said that Lee was expressing displeasure at criticism over remarks he says he did not make, including claims that he told people to “sell your house and buy stocks” or labeled multiple homeowners “devils.”
Lee added that in a capitalist market economy, owning multiple homes within the bounds of law and regulation cannot itself be condemned as a social evil.
“If one must identify a social evil to criticize, that criticism should be directed not at multiple homeowners but at politicians who created and implemented bad systems,” he wrote. He also said politicians who should make multiple-home ownership burdensome have instead granted special benefits, encouraged speculation or even pursued excess gains themselves, in what he described as a conflict of interest — remarks widely seen as aimed at Jang.
Some political observers described it as unusual for a president to spotlight real estate during the Lunar New Year period.
Under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the Blue House typically kept a lower profile when the conservative opposition deliberately raised housing issues. A ruling party official said public opinion on housing has shifted and that President Lee was signaling his determination to press ahead with reforms.
Recent telephone surveys conducted before the holiday showed higher approval than disapproval of the government’s housing policy. Polls by SBS and Ipsos, MBC and Korea Research, and KBS and K-Stat Research found positive assessments ranging from 51 to 52 percent, compared with negative ratings between 39 and 44 percent.
![President Lee Jae Myung's repost of a cartoon from a local media outlet on Feb. 17 that depicts a red horse — symbolizing the year of the red horse — trampling a wild boar labeled “land speculation″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/18/d9559a04-0e39-473b-9e8e-a3c9dd441868.jpg)
President Lee Jae Myung's repost of a cartoon from a local media outlet on Feb. 17 that depicts a red horse — symbolizing the year of the red horse — trampling a wild boar labeled “land speculation″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]
In a Lunar New Year message on X, Lee pledged to overcome what he called a “real estate republic” and to build a fairer society. On Instagram, he reposted a cartoon from a media outlet depicting a red horse — symbolizing the year of the red horse — trampling a wild boar labeled “land speculation.”
“Interesting,” Lee wrote in the comment section.
Opposition figures, however, viewed Lee’s holiday messages on real estate as a strategy to cover up other issues. PPP Rep. Park Soo-young accused Lee of focusing on housing while broader economic indicators flashed warning signs.
As both parties leaned into the dispute, analysts said housing prices after the holiday could become a key battleground in the June 3 local elections. The clash also overshadowed internal tensions within the conservative party.
“From the presidential office’s perspective, real estate may be the only major remaining risk,” said Jo Gwi-dong, from political consulting firm Min. “President Lee appears to have taken direct control of the issue following the Jan. 29 supply measures, opting for a head-on approach.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY OH HYUN-SEOK, RYU HYO-RIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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