国总理因有争议的政府办公地开发计划而于周四辞职。房地产和建筑业的问题不断增多，对这个国家从全球经济危机中快速复苏的进程造成了威胁。
韩国经济增长率喜人。周一，韩国央行(Bank of Korea)报告，受出口和设施投资推动，韩国第二季度国内生产总值(GDP)同比跃升7.2%。但过去两年韩国的经济表现差强人意。
但在经济快速回暖的背景下，连月来，政府官员一直在努力扭转房地产市场停滞不前的局面。在一个大多数人的财富均与房地产相关的国家，这是一个艰难的政治挑战。针对房价下滑的现象，政府财政和土地部门上周在提升房价的方法上出现了分歧，并推迟了最终的决定。
周 二，国有的住宅与政府建设投资公司──Korea Land & Housing公司取消或推迟了数十个原定项目，称其债务增加且利用债券市场的能力有限。部分当地报纸称，原计划的138个项目中，有120个项目将终 止。但公司发言人周四说，还未确定准确的数字。
韩国总理郑云灿(Chung Un-chan)的辞职与另一项房地产项目的争议有关。这名曾担任大学校长的经济学家在去年9月上任之初便表示，由国家出资200亿美元建造一个城市作为第二个国家政府办公中心的计划昂贵且低效。
他制订了把新城市世宗(Sejong)扩大成商业和科技中心的新计划，并得到了总统李明博(Lee Myung-bak)的支持。但上个月，国会否决了这项新计划。在韩国政坛。此类受到广泛关注的失败通常会导致官员辞职。
韩国总理一职尤其脆弱，通常在任时间仅六个月至两年。在韩国，总理由总统指定，主要负责政策和庆典事务。
郑云灿在告别演说中提到了世宗开发的问题。他说，最重要的是，为了这个国家的百年大计，我为世宗准备了一个修正方案，但却未能获得国会的批准，这一事实让我感到内疚。因为我未能预防国家在未来肯定要出现的浪费和混乱。
South Korea's prime minister resigned Thursday over a controversial government-office development plan, as mounting troubles in the housing and construction industries threaten the country's rapid recovery from the global economic crisis.
The country is enjoying a heady rate of growth. The Bank of Korea on Monday reported a 7.2% year-to-year jump in second-quarter gross domestic product, driven by exports and facility investment. That figure followed marginal performance over the past two years.
But amid that vibrant turnaround, government officials for months have been wrestling with a stagnating housing market, a politically difficult challenge in a country where most people have their wealth tied up in real estate. Last week, government finance and land agencies clashed over ways to boost sagging home values and put off a final decision.
On Tuesday, Korea Land & Housing, the state-run funder of home and government construction, canceled or delayed dozens of planned projects, citing mounting debt and its limited ability to tap the bond market. Some local newspapers reported that 120 of 138 planned projects will be ended, but a spokesman for the firm, known simply as LH in South Korea, said Thursday that a precise number hasn't been set.
The resignation of Prime Minister Chung Un-chan is tied to another real-estate controversy. Mr. Chung, an economist and former university president, argued when he took office in September that a plan to build a taxpayer-funded, $20 billion city as a second center for national government offices was expensive and inefficient.
But last month, the National Assembly rejected a new plan devised by Mr. Chung and supported by President Lee Myung-bak to broaden the city, dubbed Sejong, into a center for business and science. In South Korean politics, such a high-profile failure often leads to an official's resignation.
Prime ministers, appointed by the president to mainly handle policy and ceremonial duties, are especially vulnerable and typically serve for just six months to two years.
Mr. Chung cited the Sejong development issue in his farewell speech. 'More than anything, I prepared a revised plan for Sejong city for the country for the coming hundred years,' he said. 'But the fact that I failed to make it through makes me feel guilty that I couldn't prevent national waste and confusion that are certain to come in the future.'