The vice minister for land and infrastructure has apologized for recent comments and property transactions that critics perceived to be out of touch. 

Vice Minister Lee Sang-kyeong said in a video posted to YouTube Thursday that he had failed to consider the difficulty aspiring homeowners face in South Korea's current housing market on a recent YouTube broadcast related to the government's housing policies.

Lee had drawn backlash earlier this week when claiming on the broadcast that those hoping to purchase property should simply "buy when the market stabilizes."

Lee has also come under fire for purchasing an apartment and putting a tenant's large lump-sum deposit towards the cost, a trade known as a "gap investment."

The vice minister said that his wife had purchased the apartment as a residence, rather than a gap investment, but acknowledged that the decision had fallen short of public expectations.