ID :
47744
Thu, 02/26/2009 - 11:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/47744
The shortlink copeid
President hints at easing land development restrictions in Seoul
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called for a construction boom
in the capital area Thursday, claiming now is the best time to start building as
both wages and prices are down, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa
Dae said.
His comments can largely be seen as a call to ease land development restrictions
around the Seoul metropolitan area, which land speculation has forced the
government for decades to protect owing to strict greenbelt restrictions.
Seoul, together with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, is already home to nearly
half of the country's 48 million population.
"A house becomes most adequate when it is built where it is most needed and for
those who most need it," the president said in a meeting of a special
presidential committee, the Emergency Economy Management Council.
He instructed his finance and construction ministers to take an aerial look at
the Seoul area, according to the presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
"If you look down from an aircraft, greenbelt areas on the outskirts of Seoul are
filled with greenhouses. If we build houses in those areas rather than far away
places from Seoul, we won't have to spend as much on building infrastructure,"
said Lee, who once headed one of the nation's largest construction companies here
before turning to politics.
The move is primarily aimed at boosting the country's flagging economy, but it
could also help lower prices in the area, according to the Cheong Wa Dae
spokesman.
"This aims to stimulate the construction industry in the metropolitan area, but
also increase supplies in the area, which would be catching two rabbits with just
one shot," Lee, the spokesman, told reporters.
In addition, the president ordered the officials to consider offering preferences
to households with more than three children when selling or leasing state-owned
apartments, an incentive aimed at encouraging childbirth, according to the
spokesman.
The incentives could include giving priority in purchase bids or lower prices, he
said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called for a construction boom
in the capital area Thursday, claiming now is the best time to start building as
both wages and prices are down, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa
Dae said.
His comments can largely be seen as a call to ease land development restrictions
around the Seoul metropolitan area, which land speculation has forced the
government for decades to protect owing to strict greenbelt restrictions.
Seoul, together with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, is already home to nearly
half of the country's 48 million population.
"A house becomes most adequate when it is built where it is most needed and for
those who most need it," the president said in a meeting of a special
presidential committee, the Emergency Economy Management Council.
He instructed his finance and construction ministers to take an aerial look at
the Seoul area, according to the presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
"If you look down from an aircraft, greenbelt areas on the outskirts of Seoul are
filled with greenhouses. If we build houses in those areas rather than far away
places from Seoul, we won't have to spend as much on building infrastructure,"
said Lee, who once headed one of the nation's largest construction companies here
before turning to politics.
The move is primarily aimed at boosting the country's flagging economy, but it
could also help lower prices in the area, according to the Cheong Wa Dae
spokesman.
"This aims to stimulate the construction industry in the metropolitan area, but
also increase supplies in the area, which would be catching two rabbits with just
one shot," Lee, the spokesman, told reporters.
In addition, the president ordered the officials to consider offering preferences
to households with more than three children when selling or leasing state-owned
apartments, an incentive aimed at encouraging childbirth, according to the
spokesman.
The incentives could include giving priority in purchase bids or lower prices, he
said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)
