After reading the title, readers might think that I have gone bonkers. And rightly so — it’s exactly the time for non-ordinary thinking. I repeat my earlier words: The old-world order is over, and we must think out of the box. As there is more room for executive action in foreign affairs, we saw last October that South Korea has a long way to go to learn all “the bells and whistles” of independent engagement. Some ask even if we should be talking to the North: I’d say if we don’t speak, guns soon would.
The current administration under President Lee Jae Myung is trying hard to talk to North Korea. However, all efforts are falling short, to the extent that we are losing important people. Take for example Lee Hae-chan, a national-scale strategist, who passed away on Jan. 25 while on a trip to Vietnam. His goal was to attend the meeting of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council to find ways to restart talks with North Korea. Yet, it seems these efforts have not borne any fruit.
Think from the North’s perspective for a moment — after all, of everything we here in the South have been through in the past two years, the North has also faced its fair share of trouble also. Then President Yoon Suk Yeol's serenade to U.S. President Joe Biden in 2023, the alignment so to speak, has pushed the North to work closely with Russia. It took a human toll: Just last week North Korean leader Kim Jong-un opened an apartment complex of 50 buildings dedicated to the families of perished North Korean soldiers sent to fight on behalf of Russia against Ukraine.
Then, there is the barrage of drones (11 according to the prosecution) that flew all the way into Pyongyang, sent by the Yoon administration ahead of his 2024 martial law declaration, attempting to spur a military response from the North. We can only thank the North for its patience and reserve for not escalating further.
And then take the drone incidents sent from the South under the current administration: at least one in September and another in January. Even South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense disowned the fact, saying it wasn’t their operation, only later tracing through the radar data — showing that Seoul isn’t even fully aware of what’s happening in “its own house,” with possible rogue elements still muddying the waters between the South and the North.
All this leaves the South hugely “indebted” to the North for its restraint. To that I would say: Just apologize, because it is the right thing to do if you want to build trust. But ultimately, the reason why the North wouldn’t speak to Seoul is simple — it doesn’t believe Seoul is independent enough to conduct its own foreign policy. Just see how wild the debates over alliance versus self-reliance get and you will understand the skepticism.
So, to prove otherwise, there’s a need for a clear example of sovereignty. And the apartment prices in Seoul's affluent southern Gangnam area comes as a good case. I even remember arguing with my one old professor 20 years ago about what would it take to bring those prices down. So far to me, those apartments aren’t just apartments, they are gambling chips that serve only the benefits of a small group of people who have access to the financial system with privileges that are difficult for the general public to access. This administration is trying to change the case. Some would cry foul and accuse the administration of being socialist, but in reality, all advanced economies do it. In fact, if you don’t you are not advanced enough. Take Canada’s Vancouver example, where the provincial government enacted a 20 percent foreign buyer's tax in 2016 (initially 15 percent) and a speculation and vacancy tax of up to 2 percent for foreign owners to curb speculation and provide vacant homes as housing for locals, significantly reducing foreign investment and helping stabilize prices in high-demand areas.
The New York “socialist” case these days has its real estate owners reeling from complex rent regulation laws, high property taxes and market challenges like expected price declines in 2026 amid rising inventory and economic shifts, prompting calls for more balanced interventions. To all the critics, the Singaporean Housing & Development Board (HDB) example would blow all the limits (“communist”?): It provides affordable public housing to over 80 percent of the population through subsidized 99-year leasehold flats in self-contained towns, promoting home ownership, social cohesion and price stability via government planning and sales at discounted rates, ensuring nearly universal access without pure market speculation.
Postulates of sovereignty tout control over land, people and processes. For South Korea to claim its independence, it must to exercise its laws and demonstrate state authority. The Coupang issue becomes another case. Some worry that it adds to the pressure on the government, and rightly so; the so-called “free market” is never free. As is the case with apartments, it always reflects a state's willingness to interfere for the things not to spiral out of control. Contrary to the criticisms, what the current administration actually does to Coupang only increases the company’s value — in other words, protects the interest of all investors. Without any oversight, there is no guarantee of ethical business practices or the security of customers' personal data.
All in all, for Seoul, the road to Pyongyang doesn’t run through Washington or Moscow, but through the streets of Gangnam. South Korea must prove it that it is the master of its own land, and not overseas investors or corporate giants. Practicing sovereignty isn’t practicing ‘socialism’ or ‘communism,’ it is getting things in order in your own house. Only success with that will make the North believe that our word is worth something.
Eugene Lee (mreulee@gmail.com) is a lecturing professor at the Graduate School of Governance at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. Specializing in international relations and governance, his research and teaching focus is on national and regional security, international development, government policies, and Northeast and Central Asia. The views expressed in this article are his own.