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Lee rejects reports of promotion penalties for officials with multiple homes

Published: 28 Mar. 2026, 17:57 Updated: 29 Mar. 2026, 14:46

President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a meeting held at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on March 27. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung directly rejected on Saturday news reports that the government is considering excluding public officials who own multiple homes from promotions.

Sharing an article about the matter on X, formerly known as Twitter, the president wrote, “Reports claiming that the government is effectively forcing public officials who own multiple homes to sell them by blocking promotions are false and seriously undermine trust in the current administration’s housing policies. I hope this is corrected.”

The report had claimed that the presidential office was reviewing measures to bar officials at grade 5 and above who own multiple homes or high-value non-residential properties from promotions and appointments. In response, President Lee emphasized, “The presidential office does not tell officials with multiple homes whether to sell their houses. The government can stabilize housing prices sufficiently through tax, financial, and regulatory measures alone.”

He added, “Even officials who hold administrative positions at grade 5 or higher are free to maintain multiple homes at their own risk. Any resulting losses are their responsibility. There is no need for the presidential office to penalize them in promotions or effectively force them to sell.”

The president also noted, “While it is reasonable to inform public officials that owning multiple homes is not a reliable way to build wealth, pressuring them to sell would be tantamount to admitting that the housing stability policy has failed.”

However, following President Lee’s directive to exclude multi-homeowners from policy decisions, several aides at the presidential office have been selling their additional homes. Blue House spokesperson Kang Yu-jung reportedly sold one of the two apartments she owned.

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 PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]