President Lee Chae-kwang of Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corp. (HUG) said HUG will review the sale of apartments being built by LH Corp. in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and fix any loopholes uncovered.

President Lee made the remarks in reply to a question by Rep. Song Suk-joon of Liberty Korea Party during an audit by the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on Oct. 14.

Rep. Song said, “There are many complaints since public notice prices of LH apartments in Dunchon-dong, Gangdong-gu, are higher than those in Gangjin-gu, but the selling prices of the former are set lower than those of the latter.”

The lawmaker criticized HUG for inconsistency regarding government policies like a cap on private sector land prices, which may disrupt the housing market.

In June, HUG took steps to strengthen regulations on the prices of apartments by changing guidelines on the screening of high-priced apartment sites.

HUG lowered the top selling price levels of high-priced apartment sites, those which are subject to strict management, from 110 percent of the price of existing surrounding apartments, to between 100 percent and 105 percent.

The selling prices of newly built apartments are determined based on the average price of existing neighborhood apartments if they are built and distributed within one year.

HUG’s curbs on the prices of new apartments have prompted major apartment reconstruction cooperatives to be in trouble in calculating apartment prices.

The Dunchon-dong apartment reconstruction cooperative originally planned to set apartment prices at a range of 35 million won per 3.3 sq. meters, but the figure was lowered to 25 million won, 30 percent lower than what the cooperative originally suggested, to conform to HUG’s new guidelines.

Lower selling prices under HUG’s guidelines have become the subject of criticism over implications of a wide gap between existing and new apartment prices that could earn lottery winners a windfall.

The 12,000 apartment units in Dunchon-dong are to be reconstructed, with public sales slated for next February.

Meanwhile, a report released by Rep. Song Suk-joon, showed that those found to have died alone inside redeveloped rental homes by Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. (SH) jumped 4.3 times, compared to a 2.2-fold surge in deaths in all rental SH houses.

According to stats on those who died in SH rental homes for the most recent five years, three died in 2015, four deaths were reported in 2016, but the deaths increased to five in 2017, 13 in 2018 and nine in the first nine months of this year. The latest figure represented a 2.2-fold jump compared to 2015, the report said.

Redeveloped rental homes employ a format of a trust, in which they are distributed to people who have no home as the result of the implementation of redevelopment projects, and residual unoccupied units are supplied to underprivileged people.

Rep. Song’s office said those found to have died alone in SH’s redeveloped rental homes is not just an issue with SH, but also that of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which authorities have to deal with in an consolidated fashion.

North Korean refugees were found to have died in such conditions in July, including a woman in her 40s and two children aged less than 10.

The case indicated that basic livelihood assistance needs to be supplied with services tailored to meet people’s specific needs.