President Lee Jae-myung, returning from his tour of the United States, South America and Germany, greets Political Affairs Senior Secretary Hong Ihk-pyo, who came to welcome him, at Seoul Airport in Seongnam on the 3rd. Reporter Kwon Wook
President Lee Jae-myung presided over a “marathon meeting” lasting seven hours and 30 minutes to review the real estate and stock markets immediately after returning on the 3rd from a trip to the United States and South America. At the meeting, Lee focused his instructions on preparing measures for the rapid supply of housing.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said in a written briefing that “President Lee stressed that the housing supply slump that has continued since 2022 has caused a supply cliff, and that supply and speed are very important to overcome this,” adding, “he instructed officials to secure available supply volume so that as many homes as possible can be supplied as quickly as possible.” In this process, he ordered them to find all possible methods, including administrative measures, finance, fiscal support, and regulatory easing. At the same time, he instructed the ministers of relevant ministries to comprehensively re-examine existing supply measures and to arrange a follow-up reporting and review meeting within two to three days.
The government also reportedly reviewed the impact that the tax reform plan announced the same day would have on the real estate market. Measures to stabilize the stock market, which has shown extreme volatility, were also reportedly discussed.
The meeting, which began around 3 p.m. that day, ran well past seven hours and did not conclude until 10:30 p.m. It had initially been expected to last about two hours, but Lee reportedly continued the meeting until late at night, judging that resolving livelihood issues such as real estate and the stock market was urgent.
Analysts say the meeting is not unrelated to the fact that, contrary to usual cases, Lee’s approval rating for state affairs fell during his overseas trip. According to a public opinion poll conducted by Realmeter on 2,508 people aged 18 and over nationwide from the 27th to the 31st of last month and released that day, Lee’s approval rating for state affairs was 45.9%, the lowest in the same institution’s surveys. His negative rating was 50.5%, entering the 50% range for the first time.
Meanwhile, Lee will preside over a Cabinet meeting on the 4th and begin a schedule of second-round work reports by each ministry, starting with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Realmeter survey was conducted using a wireless (100%) automated response system (ARS), with a margin of error of ±2.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For details, refer to the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.