Finance minister tours Seoul housing project as state land plan targets 28,000 homes

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il visited a public rental housing complex in Seoul on Friday, checking progress on a plan to supply 28,000 homes in the capital region by redeveloping ageing government buildings and unused state land.

He toured the Nara Kiwoom Yeongdeungpo complex in Yeongdeungpo District at 10:30 a.m., accompanied by officials from the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO), the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) and the Korea Housing Management Institute, the finance ministry said. The visit was the second in a series of site inspections tied to the ministry's three core social policy areas — housing, jobs and small-business finance — following a stop at a K-Digital New Deal training academy last week.

KAMCO redeveloped an ageing public office building on the site, combining new government offices, rental apartments and neighbourhood commercial space in a single block. The homes are let to university students, young adults and elderly tenants.

The ministry said it will accelerate the plan and keep searching for additional sites for homes aimed at young adults and newlywed couples beyond those already announced.

"It matters to raise housing quality so that residents can live comfortably and safely," Lee said. "A home is the starting point and the supporting pillar of life."

Lee said the policy goal is to guarantee the right to housing so that people can live stably without housing worries at every stage of life, from a young person's first move out to old age. He said the government will concentrate available resources on stabilizing housing for the public, and will reflect the improvement tasks identified on site in policy.