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Vice Land Minister resigns after out-of-touch comments and spouse's speculative apartment deal

Published: 25 Oct. 2025, 17:31

First Vice Land Minister Lee Sang-kyeong apologizes on Oct. 23 via a YouTube livestream for his recent controversial remarks on real estate and allegations of engaging in a speculative gap investment. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday accepted the resignation of the vice land minister amid mounting controversy over his recent comments about the housing market and his personal real estate dealings.

On Friday, First Vice Land Minister Lee Sang-kyeong offered to resign as he had come under fire after appearing on a YouTube channel earlier this week, where he said, “When the market stabilizes and housing prices fall, that's when people can buy homes.”

The vice minister's remarks triggered sweeping criticism from online communities, as well as both the ruling and opposition parties, accusing him of being tone-deaf to difficulties faced by ordinary people buying homes. Lee also faced backlash this week because it became known that his spouse had purchased a 3.35 billion won ($2.33 million) apartment in Gyeonggi last year, financing almost half of it through a jeonse (lump sum rent) deposit. This practice is widely association with speculative "gap investments," which the recently implemented real estate rules were meant to curb.

The government last week tightened housing-related loans in an effort to rein in soaring home prices.

The real estate professor-turned-vice minister reportedly has close ties with President Lee and is known to have offered policy advice since the president's days of serving as the Seongnam mayor and governor of Gyeonggi.

The housing market has emerged as a hot-button topic in politics ahead of the local elections, set to take place next June.

Apartment prices in Seoul have been on a steep increase in recent months, especially in neighborhoods around the Han River, fueling speculative demand and accelerating upward price trends, emerging as a key policy test for the new government.

Yonhap