00:03Korea's president wants homes that actually get built, not just promised.
00:08Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday ordered what he called an all-out supply push,
00:11from land preparation through permits to groundbreaking.
00:15The urgency is in the data.
00:17Seoul's housing permits have fallen about 63% in a decade.
00:21It's Wednesday, October 21st.
00:24Let's get into one of Korea's top economic stories today.
00:27At a cabinet meeting, Lee told ministries to cut the time spent on land development,
00:32permits, and construction starts as far as possible.
00:35He said the government will be judged on real groundbreaking and move-ins,
00:39not on announced targets.
00:41Options on the table include selling undeveloped land early
00:44and using modular housing to shorten build times.
00:47Here's what the numbers show.
00:49118,000 homes were permitted in Seoul in 2015, compared with just 42,000 last year.
00:55Lee told the Land Ministry and Korea Land and Housing Corporation
00:59to start about 90% of public housing in the third-generation new towns by 2030,
01:04as pledged in August.
01:06He also inspected Incheon's Gaeang New Town, where 18,000 homes are scheduled,
01:11and called for legislation to curb delays from land expropriation lawsuits.
01:15Separately, monthly rent contracts made up 51% of Seoul apartment rentals from January to September,
01:21up from 43% a year earlier, and the first majority since data began in 2011.
01:27So, what does this mean for global readers following Korea's economy?
01:31Earlier, we said Seoul's housing permits have fallen about 63% in a decade.
01:36Here's what that actually means for you.
01:38Permits issued today become the homes of the next several years,
01:42so the shortfall is still working through the market,
01:45and the shift to monthly rent shows tenants are already absorbing the pressure.
01:49Whether the government drafts a bill to speed up land expropriation disputes.
01:53Groundbreaking progress at the third-generation new towns against the 90% goal for 2030.
01:58Whether Seoul's full-year monthly rent share, a record 44.5% last year, tops 50%.
02:05That's today's AI Prism, front page daily.
02:08This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting,
02:13and reviewed by a human editor.
02:15AI Prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series.
02:18We'll be back tomorrow.
