Lee Jae Myung: "Market Too Focused on Short-Term Trading... Tax Benefits for Long-Term Holding Should Be Expanded"

Lee Appears on Economic YouTube Joint Talk Show "Economy TokTok"

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung stated on May 8, "If we provide incentives to companies with high PBR (price-to-book ratios), the market will improve significantly."

Appearing on the economic YouTube joint talk show 'Economy TokTok' that afternoon, Lee discussed measures to revitalize the stock market, saying, "If companies maintain a low dividend payout ratio, they should face financial or policy disadvantages." He added, "This is one way to encourage higher dividend payouts."

Lee also said, "One of the factors considered for increasing companies' dividend payout ratios is the dividend income tax." However, he maintained that the relationship between lowering the dividend income tax and increasing dividend payouts requires further research and review. Lee explained, "We tried it briefly, but only the tax was reduced, so the policy was withdrawn."

Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung is speaking at the meeting with the heads of five major economic organizations invited for presidential candidates held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul on May 8, 2025. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

He expressed a positive view on providing tax benefits for long-term stock holdings. Lee said, "Our (securities) market is too focused on short-term trading," and diagnosed the reason as "because there is no benefit to holding stocks long-term."

He added, "There must be a definite benefit to long-term holding. Since there is none, it is desirable to expand tax benefits for long-term holdings."

He also pointed out that potential side effects must be discussed as well. Lee emphasized, "There are concerns that long-term holding benefits could be concentrated among major or controlling shareholders," and stressed, "We need to eliminate these side effects while providing the benefits."

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