Lee Jae-myung: "KOSPI 5000 Possible Within My Term... Don't Buy My Themed Stocks"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, appeared on the economic YouTube channel 'Sampro TV' on the 25th.
[Photo by YouTube capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "I think KOSPI 5000 is not such a difficult goal," and predicted, "The stock market will surpass the real estate market in the future."

On the 25th, Lee appeared on the economic YouTube channel 'Sampuro TV' and mentioned the forward price-earnings ratio (PER) of the KOSPI index, saying, "If it goes up to around 17 to 18 times, even a 50% increase would push it beyond 4000."

He expressed confidence, saying, "I can't say it will happen exactly during my term, but I think it can definitely reach that level," and also said, "The domestic stock market holds a significant share in the global capital market but is too undervalued."

He pointed to market opacity as the reason for the undervaluation of domestic stocks. He diagnosed, "I believe our stock market is opaque. The rate of cracking down on stock price manipulation is very low, and the penalties are too weak, so people don't trust the market."

Lee analyzed, "More fundamentally, our economic structure itself is highly distorted. Promising small and medium enterprises escape overseas due to technology theft and price undercutting. The corporate economic environment foundation is poor."

He continued, "Currently, there are only about 20 personnel in the Financial Supervisory Service dedicated to cracking down on stock price manipulation, but I think that number should be increased to hundreds," emphasizing the point.

He added, "We must manage it thoroughly so that no one even dreams of doing it," and said, "If caught for stock price manipulation or fund fraud, like in the U.S., they should be sentenced to decades in prison and completely expelled from the market. It's a matter of will."

Furthermore, Lee stated, "It is true that the stock market has surpassed the real estate market," and emphasized, "I think the real estate market has already peaked." Regarding the causes of the real estate price surge, he analyzed, "Policy errors were a major cause."

Lee said, "If the market feels there is a supply shortage, action should be taken to increase supply, but there was a denial of the market's demand," adding, "Demand was triggered by the assumption that supply would not increase." He also said, "Basically, I am on the side of increasing supply," and added, "Distorted demand, excessive demand, speculative demand, and fear-driven demand must be reduced. Taxation, finance, and transaction restrictions can be mobilized for that."

Lee also mentioned his own stock investments. He said, "I have sold everything now, but I personally selected 100% of all the stocks," and recalled, "When I first started investing, I bought stocks on the recommendation of a college friend working at a securities company, but it turned out to be a manipulated stock." He continued, "I bought at mid-10,000 won per share, it went over 30,000 won, and I got scared, so I sold everything and called my friend to sell, but he refused, so we almost fought before I sold. Then the price dropped sharply."

He added, "After that, I watched stocks and the economy every day. Eventually, I started day trading small, failing stocks," and said, "I was about 29 or 30 years old. Later, day trading was not enough, so I traded futures, call options, and even sold put options at the end. Looking back now, it was crazy."

Lee said, "I bought my current house for 360 million won with a 200 million won jeonse deposit and a 150 million won loan," and added, "The rest was all lost due to the IMF crisis (in stocks)."

He continued, "After the IMF ended, I re-entered the stock market, recovered my principal, and even made a good profit," explaining, "I was completely ruined and became zero in 1998. Over the next 2 to 3 years, I recovered all the money I lost using my earnings and funds from around me and earned enough. My total assets in stocks reached 1.2 to 1.5 billion won. I had 1.3 billion won but sold everything when the blind trust decision was made during my governorship."

Regarding the so-called 'Lee Jae-myung theme stocks,' he urged, "Do not buy them at all. They have nothing to do with me."

He said, "Those connections are really outrageous," and explained, "Because I implemented the free school uniform policy, there are uniform companies; because I am from Andong, companies headquartered in Andong; companies of people who attended CEO meetings in Seongnam where I participated; and even companies where university alumni are directors."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.