Minister Kim Yoon-deok, the candidate for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said on the 27th that "the expansion of the metropolitan area express train (GTX) is necessary for balanced national development and to improve accessibility to the metropolitan area for local people."
Candidate Kim noted this in a written response to a question from Congressman Bok Gi-wang of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is a member of the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee, regarding the necessity of the GTX extension project.
In response to the point that expanding the GTX would be difficult solely with local finances, he replied, "If I take office as Minister, I will actively consider ways to alleviate the burden on local governments."
Earlier, President Lee Jae-myung had revealed plans during his presidential candidate period to create a one-hour economic zone in the metropolitan area through the expansion and reorganization of the GTX. The GTX expansion is expected to be a major means in promoting the administrative system that President Lee pledged to implement, which aims to alleviate metropolitan concentration and pursue balanced regional development under the '5 poles and 3 special zones' initiative.
The 5 poles refer to five major metropolitan areas: the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon), the southeastern region (Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam), the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, the central region (Sejong, Daejeon, Chungcheong), and the Honam region (Gwangju, Jeonnam). The 3 special zones are Gangwon, Jeonbuk, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.
In response to a question regarding strategies for balancing efficiency and publicness in the process of expanding social overhead capital (SOC), candidate Kim stated, "Projects that are underperforming or ineffective should be restructured so that savings can be reinvested into necessary areas."
He added, "If I take office as Minister, I will strive to ensure that efficiency and publicness in SOC investments harmonize according to the characteristics and conditions of regions and SOC types."
In addition, regarding the investigation into preferential treatment allegations connected to Mrs. Kim Keon-hee's family and the Seoul-Yangpyeong Expressway, candidate Kim said, "I have not received separate reports on the ongoing investigation" and noted, "The facts will be revealed through the results of the special investigation."
He emphasized, however, that "the essence of this case is whether Mrs. Kim's family received preferential treatment and the irrational suspension of the project," adding that "it is important to clarify the issues in the decision-making process."
In response to a question about suspicions of organizational responses within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, he expressed that "operational officials should not be excessively intimidated and act passively based only on circumstances without making assumptions."
In a written response submitted to Congresswoman Lee Yun-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, candidate Kim stated that regarding the expansion of the land transaction permission zone to curb housing prices in the metropolitan area, "areas with speculation concerns should be designated swiftly, but expanding the land transaction permission zone accompanies limitations on the property rights of the public," and emphasized that "careful consideration is required regarding the need for additional designations."
Regarding the household debt measures announced on June 27, which include a limit of 600 million won on housing mortgage loans in the metropolitan area, he evaluated that "the overheated housing market centered around Seoul is stabilizing to some extent, as speculative transactions have been blocked after the tightening of loan regulations, leading to a slowdown in price increases," and noted, "there is a need to actively promote policies from the perspective of supply and demand for market stability."
In response to concerns that loan regulations are causing a decrease in jeonse (lease) offerings and rising jeonse prices, he said, "As this is the early stage of the implementation of measures, the effects need to be observed further," and added, "If I take office as Minister, I will monitor the volume of jeonse transactions and the trends of jeonse deposits, and will work to devise measures if necessary."