President Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday reiterated his administration’s intention to reduce South Korea’s overreliance on real estate by promoting equities and other financial investment alternatives. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Lee said the concentration of capital in the housing market has caused residential instability, stating that “housing has repeatedly become a means of investment or speculation.” He added that the recent normalization of financial markets suggests that alternatives such as stock investments are gradually taking root, and emphasized the need to maintain that trend.

The remarks follow a sharp rise in home prices in Seoul and the financial authorities’ June