Korea to unveil measures to cool down property boom next week

The South Korean government said Thursday it will announce a set of measures to cool down the country's real estate boom next week amid concerns over mounting household credits.

At a ministerial-level meeting in Seoul chaired by Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, the country's economic policymakers discussed pending issues, including an overheating in the local property market and the ongoing corporate restructuring of the shipbuilding and shipping industries.

They decided to announce the government's countermeasures against a recent real estate boom next Thursday, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The move came as housing prices in some uptown areas in Seoul have risen sharply, driven up by speculative moves, while other areas have remained cold amid a protracted economic slump.

The government has been reviewing pre-emptive measures to keep such an overheating trend in Seoul from spreading to other areas, with the country's household debts standing at a record level of 1,300 trillion won ($1.14 trillion).

Economists anticipate that the measures will likely include the designation of anti-speculation zones, which will place a five-year ban on the resale of newly built and newly purchased homes in the designated areas.

Meanwhile, the government will also release a plan to reorganize the country's shipbuilding and shipping sectors through downsizing and rearranging business portfolios next Monday.

Hit by a global economic slowdown and a prolonged slump in oil prices, South Korean shipyards and shippers, including Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., have been struggling with mounting losses and falling orders.

Hanjin Shipping Co., the world's sixth-largest shipping line, was put under court receivership last month as its latest self-rescue scheme was rejected by its creditors. (Yonhap)