After 11-day overseas trip, Lee turns attention to real estate, stock market

President Lee Jae Myung returned home Monday after an 11-day trip to the United States and South America.

Lee arrived around noon at Seoul Airport in Seongnam and headed directly to Cheong Wa Dae, where he chaired a closed-door meeting on domestic economic issues including real estate policy and the stock market.

During the trip, Lee met with global technology giants in Silicon Valley and secured investment and cooperation deals worth $950 billion. He then visited Brazil, Chile and Argentina, where he was credited with advancing energy cooperation — including critical minerals and crude oil. The president returns from his longest overseas trip since taking office to a full slate of unresolved domestic issues.

The closed-door economic meeting was expected to focus primarily on the potential impact on the real estate market ahead of a planned tax reform announcement. The reform would increase the tax burden on ultra-high-priced and non-owner-occupied homes.

Lee had launched the overseas trip immediately after wrapping up a national public forum on real estate policy, so the meeting was also expected to include in-depth discussions on financial and housing supply measures that individual ministries drew up based on public opinion gathered at the forum.

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, who chaired a separate real estate forum on Monday while Lee was abroad, was expected to attend along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol and senior Cheong Wa Dae staff.

The extreme volatility in the stock market — which has swung between record-breaking crashes and surges in recent weeks — is another pressing domestic issue that cannot be deferred.

Single-stock leveraged ETFs have been identified as one of the factors amplifying that volatility, drawing heightened market attention to any government signals on the matter.

The government earlier raised the minimum deposit requirement for leveraged ETFs from 10 million won ($6,980) to 30 million won but has left open the possibility of a further increase.

Officials are also reportedly reviewing measures to cap individual investment limits and require simulated trading, as well as the introduction of emergency market powers that would allow authorities to adjust leveraged ETF multipliers.

Domestic political issues are no less daunting.

Attention is focused on whether Lee will personally address the constitutional amendment debate over allowing a sitting president to seek a second consecutive term — a proposal raised by National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik.

Eyes are also on whether Lee will comment on the criminal procedure law amendment the National Assembly passed last month, which bans prosecutors from conducting supplementary investigations.

Conservative opposition parties have urged Lee to exercise his veto, but Cheong Wa Dae has said it "respects the National Assembly's judgment," making that outcome appear unlikely.

Lee is scheduled to receive briefings from the Ministry of Justice, which oversees prosecutors, and the Ministry of Interior and Safety, which oversees police, on Wednesday.

As Lee enters his second year in office, a Cabinet reshuffle and reorganization of Cheong Wa Dae staff are also expected to take shape soon.

The most closely watched question is the fate of Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho, who submitted his resignation amid the controversy over abolishing prosecutors' supplementary investigative powers. Speculation has also consistently circulated about possible replacements at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups — left vacant when its minister became prime minister — and at several other ministries.

Cheong Wa Dae is also expected to carry out personnel changes aimed at boosting policy momentum and translating the diplomatic and economic gains from the overseas trip into tangible improvements in livelihoods and economic recovery.

However, Cheong Wa Dae has been tight-lipped, saying no specific decisions have yet been made on the timing or scope of any Cabinet or staff changes.